Upload
others
View
3
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
SQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice AnalyzerSQL Server Technical Article
Writers Sylvio Hellmann Guumlnter Gross Dana Burnell
Technical Reviewers Oliver Hahn
Published September 2010
Applies to SQL Server 2008 (R2) SQL Server 2008 (R2) Analysis Services SQL Server 2008 (R2) Reporting Services and SQL Server 2008 (R2) Integration Services
Summary
The Microsoft SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer is a well know tool in the DBA community to validate if SQL Server installations are adhering with Microsoft recommended best practices
In the new R2 version the SQL BPA introduces advanced capabilities in conjunction with the PowerShell architecture and also raises the bar for prerequisites and cross dependencies
While introducing the new tool to our premier customers in the Banking Insurance and Productivity field we received strong positive feedback along with some interesting questions that we will discuss further in this paper
Understanding PowerShell Policy based Management and SQL BPA will empower you to unleash the full potential of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA)
Page 1
Table of Contents1 Introduction 5
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPA6
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer Universe7121 SQL Server BPA (older versions)7122 Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer7123 Fix-it 8124 Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 8
2 System Requirements10
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA10
22 Prerequisites 11
3 Install 12
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM12
32 Install MBCA 13
33 Install BPA 14331 Command line14332 GUI 15333 Port and Firewall restrictions16
34 Updates 16
35 Uninstall 16351 BPA 16352 MBCA 16353 Reset Powershell settings16
4 Usage 17
41 Help file 17
42 GUI 17
43 Connect to a remote computer20
44 Powershell 22441 Run Scan 22442 Create Report 23443 Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResult24444 Report Result Directory24
5 Troubleshooting 25
Page 2
51 Application directories25
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors25
53 MBCA 26
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report26
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell process26
56 Remote connect26
57 Installation 29571 Powershell error 29572 Workgroup or Non-Domain computer30573 Kerberos Failure 30
6 Rules 32
61 Engine 34
62 ASRules 36
63 RSRules 37
64 ISRules 37
65 SetupRules 38
66 Replication 38
7 How to Deal With Deviations39
8 Motivation to use SQL BPA R240
9 Additional Information 41
91 Powershell 41911 Get-MBCAModel41912 Invoke-MBCAModel43913 Get-MBCAResult 48914 Set-MBCAResult53915 MBCA Model Authoring55
Page 3
Copyright InformationThe information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication
This white paper is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS IMPLIED OR STATUTORY AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT
Information in this document including URL and other Internet Web site references is subject to change without notice Unless otherwise noted the companies organizations products domain names e-mail addresses logos people places and events depicted in examples herein are fictitious No association with any real company organization product domain name e-mail address logo person place or event is intended or should be inferred Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user Without limiting the rights under copyright no part of this document may be reproduced stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise) or for any purpose without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft may have patents patent applications trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property
copy 2010 Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved
Microsoft and SQL Server are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners
Page 4
1 INTRODUCTIONThe Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a diagnostic tool that performs the following functions
Gathers information about a server and an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 that is installed on that server
Determines if the configurations are set according to the Microsoft recommended best practices
Reports on all configurations indicating settings that differ from recommendations Indicates potential problems in the installed instance of SQL Server Recommends solutions to potential problems
This tool is used by IT Professionals and Database Administrators to help ensure that their installations of SQL Server and associated products components are adhering to best practices as determined by the SQL Server Product Teams and CSS This utility scans the installation of a local or remote machine gathering system data from WMI log files the Event Log the Windows Registry and SQL Server metadata and compares the results to predefined standards It then produces a report that shows the results and points the user to additional information on the web to help them determine whether they should make changes to their systems
For every configuration the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA provides the following results
Compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server satisfies the conditions of a Best Practices rule Non-compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server does not satisfy the conditions of a Best Practices rule
Impact of non-compliance Recommendation Links to more detailed information and related topics
To assist you and to make your DBA life easier Microsoft includes some of these Best Practices in a couple of products ndash depending on specific purpose of the Software The following diagram illustrates the variety of tools available to check best practices for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 in parallel or in combination with BPA
Page 5
The big picture ndash automated Best Practices of SQL Server checks offered in different flavours and products
So you will find a couple of policies in our monitoring solution
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer within more than 140 rules for database engine and other technologies
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)within the SQL Management pack (current version 6131436 release date 08172010)with more than 300 rules and 50 additional monitors
Policy Based Management in SQL Server 2005 and 2008with predefined policy collection (50+ policies)There is a whitepaper about PBM here
System Configuration Checker in the SQL Server 2008 setup wizard The SQL Risk Assessment Toolset (Premier Organisation best practice flagship) offering more
than 200 rules This offering is meant for Premier customers running the SQL RAP against their most business critical SQL instances Note This tool set is only available for Microsoft Premier Customers
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPAThe SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer is an additional ldquomodelrdquo for the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 (MBCA) A model is a set of component files that together comprise the configuration analysis and reporting output from MBCA
The MBCA is imbedded as a PowerShell cmdlet and consists of two major components the MBCA Engine and the MBCA UI
The MBCA Engine process itself consists of 2 main activities evaluation and discovery The MBCA Engine is fed by PowerShell discovery Scripts and XML Schema Files which are used during discovery The discovery activity interrogates the SQL Server Registry WMI Error- and Event-Logs
Page 6
CSS Rules Advice
and Manifests
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best
Practice Analyzer
SQL 2008 Setup
Policy Based Management
SCOM SQL MP
SQLRAP
etc The output is saved in an XML File which is then used in the evaluation activity Evaluation is performed using the Schematron file This file run by the MBCA engine contains the logic for evaluating the best practices The final step following the evaluation process is the report generation ndash which is shown in the MBCA UI
In the flow chart below you will find the anatomy of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer UniverseMicrosoft offers many technologies and utilities to produce best practices recommendations
121SQL Server BPA (older versions)Microsoft has also created BP Analyzers for your older SQL Server versions and for Windows
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (August 2008)
SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer (April 2010)
122Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer In Windows management best practices are guidelines that are considered the ideal way under typical circumstances to configure a server as defined by experts For example it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open only those ports required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and block unused ports Although best practice violations even crucial ones are not necessarily problematic they indicate server configurations that
Page 7
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Table of Contents1 Introduction 5
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPA6
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer Universe7121 SQL Server BPA (older versions)7122 Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer7123 Fix-it 8124 Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 8
2 System Requirements10
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA10
22 Prerequisites 11
3 Install 12
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM12
32 Install MBCA 13
33 Install BPA 14331 Command line14332 GUI 15333 Port and Firewall restrictions16
34 Updates 16
35 Uninstall 16351 BPA 16352 MBCA 16353 Reset Powershell settings16
4 Usage 17
41 Help file 17
42 GUI 17
43 Connect to a remote computer20
44 Powershell 22441 Run Scan 22442 Create Report 23443 Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResult24444 Report Result Directory24
5 Troubleshooting 25
Page 2
51 Application directories25
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors25
53 MBCA 26
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report26
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell process26
56 Remote connect26
57 Installation 29571 Powershell error 29572 Workgroup or Non-Domain computer30573 Kerberos Failure 30
6 Rules 32
61 Engine 34
62 ASRules 36
63 RSRules 37
64 ISRules 37
65 SetupRules 38
66 Replication 38
7 How to Deal With Deviations39
8 Motivation to use SQL BPA R240
9 Additional Information 41
91 Powershell 41911 Get-MBCAModel41912 Invoke-MBCAModel43913 Get-MBCAResult 48914 Set-MBCAResult53915 MBCA Model Authoring55
Page 3
Copyright InformationThe information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication
This white paper is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS IMPLIED OR STATUTORY AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT
Information in this document including URL and other Internet Web site references is subject to change without notice Unless otherwise noted the companies organizations products domain names e-mail addresses logos people places and events depicted in examples herein are fictitious No association with any real company organization product domain name e-mail address logo person place or event is intended or should be inferred Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user Without limiting the rights under copyright no part of this document may be reproduced stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise) or for any purpose without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft may have patents patent applications trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property
copy 2010 Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved
Microsoft and SQL Server are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners
Page 4
1 INTRODUCTIONThe Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a diagnostic tool that performs the following functions
Gathers information about a server and an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 that is installed on that server
Determines if the configurations are set according to the Microsoft recommended best practices
Reports on all configurations indicating settings that differ from recommendations Indicates potential problems in the installed instance of SQL Server Recommends solutions to potential problems
This tool is used by IT Professionals and Database Administrators to help ensure that their installations of SQL Server and associated products components are adhering to best practices as determined by the SQL Server Product Teams and CSS This utility scans the installation of a local or remote machine gathering system data from WMI log files the Event Log the Windows Registry and SQL Server metadata and compares the results to predefined standards It then produces a report that shows the results and points the user to additional information on the web to help them determine whether they should make changes to their systems
For every configuration the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA provides the following results
Compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server satisfies the conditions of a Best Practices rule Non-compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server does not satisfy the conditions of a Best Practices rule
Impact of non-compliance Recommendation Links to more detailed information and related topics
To assist you and to make your DBA life easier Microsoft includes some of these Best Practices in a couple of products ndash depending on specific purpose of the Software The following diagram illustrates the variety of tools available to check best practices for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 in parallel or in combination with BPA
Page 5
The big picture ndash automated Best Practices of SQL Server checks offered in different flavours and products
So you will find a couple of policies in our monitoring solution
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer within more than 140 rules for database engine and other technologies
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)within the SQL Management pack (current version 6131436 release date 08172010)with more than 300 rules and 50 additional monitors
Policy Based Management in SQL Server 2005 and 2008with predefined policy collection (50+ policies)There is a whitepaper about PBM here
System Configuration Checker in the SQL Server 2008 setup wizard The SQL Risk Assessment Toolset (Premier Organisation best practice flagship) offering more
than 200 rules This offering is meant for Premier customers running the SQL RAP against their most business critical SQL instances Note This tool set is only available for Microsoft Premier Customers
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPAThe SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer is an additional ldquomodelrdquo for the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 (MBCA) A model is a set of component files that together comprise the configuration analysis and reporting output from MBCA
The MBCA is imbedded as a PowerShell cmdlet and consists of two major components the MBCA Engine and the MBCA UI
The MBCA Engine process itself consists of 2 main activities evaluation and discovery The MBCA Engine is fed by PowerShell discovery Scripts and XML Schema Files which are used during discovery The discovery activity interrogates the SQL Server Registry WMI Error- and Event-Logs
Page 6
CSS Rules Advice
and Manifests
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best
Practice Analyzer
SQL 2008 Setup
Policy Based Management
SCOM SQL MP
SQLRAP
etc The output is saved in an XML File which is then used in the evaluation activity Evaluation is performed using the Schematron file This file run by the MBCA engine contains the logic for evaluating the best practices The final step following the evaluation process is the report generation ndash which is shown in the MBCA UI
In the flow chart below you will find the anatomy of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer UniverseMicrosoft offers many technologies and utilities to produce best practices recommendations
121SQL Server BPA (older versions)Microsoft has also created BP Analyzers for your older SQL Server versions and for Windows
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (August 2008)
SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer (April 2010)
122Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer In Windows management best practices are guidelines that are considered the ideal way under typical circumstances to configure a server as defined by experts For example it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open only those ports required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and block unused ports Although best practice violations even crucial ones are not necessarily problematic they indicate server configurations that
Page 7
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
51 Application directories25
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors25
53 MBCA 26
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report26
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell process26
56 Remote connect26
57 Installation 29571 Powershell error 29572 Workgroup or Non-Domain computer30573 Kerberos Failure 30
6 Rules 32
61 Engine 34
62 ASRules 36
63 RSRules 37
64 ISRules 37
65 SetupRules 38
66 Replication 38
7 How to Deal With Deviations39
8 Motivation to use SQL BPA R240
9 Additional Information 41
91 Powershell 41911 Get-MBCAModel41912 Invoke-MBCAModel43913 Get-MBCAResult 48914 Set-MBCAResult53915 MBCA Model Authoring55
Page 3
Copyright InformationThe information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication
This white paper is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS IMPLIED OR STATUTORY AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT
Information in this document including URL and other Internet Web site references is subject to change without notice Unless otherwise noted the companies organizations products domain names e-mail addresses logos people places and events depicted in examples herein are fictitious No association with any real company organization product domain name e-mail address logo person place or event is intended or should be inferred Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user Without limiting the rights under copyright no part of this document may be reproduced stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise) or for any purpose without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft may have patents patent applications trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property
copy 2010 Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved
Microsoft and SQL Server are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners
Page 4
1 INTRODUCTIONThe Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a diagnostic tool that performs the following functions
Gathers information about a server and an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 that is installed on that server
Determines if the configurations are set according to the Microsoft recommended best practices
Reports on all configurations indicating settings that differ from recommendations Indicates potential problems in the installed instance of SQL Server Recommends solutions to potential problems
This tool is used by IT Professionals and Database Administrators to help ensure that their installations of SQL Server and associated products components are adhering to best practices as determined by the SQL Server Product Teams and CSS This utility scans the installation of a local or remote machine gathering system data from WMI log files the Event Log the Windows Registry and SQL Server metadata and compares the results to predefined standards It then produces a report that shows the results and points the user to additional information on the web to help them determine whether they should make changes to their systems
For every configuration the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA provides the following results
Compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server satisfies the conditions of a Best Practices rule Non-compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server does not satisfy the conditions of a Best Practices rule
Impact of non-compliance Recommendation Links to more detailed information and related topics
To assist you and to make your DBA life easier Microsoft includes some of these Best Practices in a couple of products ndash depending on specific purpose of the Software The following diagram illustrates the variety of tools available to check best practices for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 in parallel or in combination with BPA
Page 5
The big picture ndash automated Best Practices of SQL Server checks offered in different flavours and products
So you will find a couple of policies in our monitoring solution
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer within more than 140 rules for database engine and other technologies
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)within the SQL Management pack (current version 6131436 release date 08172010)with more than 300 rules and 50 additional monitors
Policy Based Management in SQL Server 2005 and 2008with predefined policy collection (50+ policies)There is a whitepaper about PBM here
System Configuration Checker in the SQL Server 2008 setup wizard The SQL Risk Assessment Toolset (Premier Organisation best practice flagship) offering more
than 200 rules This offering is meant for Premier customers running the SQL RAP against their most business critical SQL instances Note This tool set is only available for Microsoft Premier Customers
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPAThe SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer is an additional ldquomodelrdquo for the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 (MBCA) A model is a set of component files that together comprise the configuration analysis and reporting output from MBCA
The MBCA is imbedded as a PowerShell cmdlet and consists of two major components the MBCA Engine and the MBCA UI
The MBCA Engine process itself consists of 2 main activities evaluation and discovery The MBCA Engine is fed by PowerShell discovery Scripts and XML Schema Files which are used during discovery The discovery activity interrogates the SQL Server Registry WMI Error- and Event-Logs
Page 6
CSS Rules Advice
and Manifests
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best
Practice Analyzer
SQL 2008 Setup
Policy Based Management
SCOM SQL MP
SQLRAP
etc The output is saved in an XML File which is then used in the evaluation activity Evaluation is performed using the Schematron file This file run by the MBCA engine contains the logic for evaluating the best practices The final step following the evaluation process is the report generation ndash which is shown in the MBCA UI
In the flow chart below you will find the anatomy of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer UniverseMicrosoft offers many technologies and utilities to produce best practices recommendations
121SQL Server BPA (older versions)Microsoft has also created BP Analyzers for your older SQL Server versions and for Windows
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (August 2008)
SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer (April 2010)
122Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer In Windows management best practices are guidelines that are considered the ideal way under typical circumstances to configure a server as defined by experts For example it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open only those ports required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and block unused ports Although best practice violations even crucial ones are not necessarily problematic they indicate server configurations that
Page 7
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Copyright InformationThe information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication
This white paper is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS IMPLIED OR STATUTORY AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT
Information in this document including URL and other Internet Web site references is subject to change without notice Unless otherwise noted the companies organizations products domain names e-mail addresses logos people places and events depicted in examples herein are fictitious No association with any real company organization product domain name e-mail address logo person place or event is intended or should be inferred Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user Without limiting the rights under copyright no part of this document may be reproduced stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise) or for any purpose without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft may have patents patent applications trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents trademarks copyrights or other intellectual property
copy 2010 Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved
Microsoft and SQL Server are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners
Page 4
1 INTRODUCTIONThe Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a diagnostic tool that performs the following functions
Gathers information about a server and an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 that is installed on that server
Determines if the configurations are set according to the Microsoft recommended best practices
Reports on all configurations indicating settings that differ from recommendations Indicates potential problems in the installed instance of SQL Server Recommends solutions to potential problems
This tool is used by IT Professionals and Database Administrators to help ensure that their installations of SQL Server and associated products components are adhering to best practices as determined by the SQL Server Product Teams and CSS This utility scans the installation of a local or remote machine gathering system data from WMI log files the Event Log the Windows Registry and SQL Server metadata and compares the results to predefined standards It then produces a report that shows the results and points the user to additional information on the web to help them determine whether they should make changes to their systems
For every configuration the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA provides the following results
Compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server satisfies the conditions of a Best Practices rule Non-compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server does not satisfy the conditions of a Best Practices rule
Impact of non-compliance Recommendation Links to more detailed information and related topics
To assist you and to make your DBA life easier Microsoft includes some of these Best Practices in a couple of products ndash depending on specific purpose of the Software The following diagram illustrates the variety of tools available to check best practices for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 in parallel or in combination with BPA
Page 5
The big picture ndash automated Best Practices of SQL Server checks offered in different flavours and products
So you will find a couple of policies in our monitoring solution
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer within more than 140 rules for database engine and other technologies
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)within the SQL Management pack (current version 6131436 release date 08172010)with more than 300 rules and 50 additional monitors
Policy Based Management in SQL Server 2005 and 2008with predefined policy collection (50+ policies)There is a whitepaper about PBM here
System Configuration Checker in the SQL Server 2008 setup wizard The SQL Risk Assessment Toolset (Premier Organisation best practice flagship) offering more
than 200 rules This offering is meant for Premier customers running the SQL RAP against their most business critical SQL instances Note This tool set is only available for Microsoft Premier Customers
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPAThe SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer is an additional ldquomodelrdquo for the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 (MBCA) A model is a set of component files that together comprise the configuration analysis and reporting output from MBCA
The MBCA is imbedded as a PowerShell cmdlet and consists of two major components the MBCA Engine and the MBCA UI
The MBCA Engine process itself consists of 2 main activities evaluation and discovery The MBCA Engine is fed by PowerShell discovery Scripts and XML Schema Files which are used during discovery The discovery activity interrogates the SQL Server Registry WMI Error- and Event-Logs
Page 6
CSS Rules Advice
and Manifests
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best
Practice Analyzer
SQL 2008 Setup
Policy Based Management
SCOM SQL MP
SQLRAP
etc The output is saved in an XML File which is then used in the evaluation activity Evaluation is performed using the Schematron file This file run by the MBCA engine contains the logic for evaluating the best practices The final step following the evaluation process is the report generation ndash which is shown in the MBCA UI
In the flow chart below you will find the anatomy of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer UniverseMicrosoft offers many technologies and utilities to produce best practices recommendations
121SQL Server BPA (older versions)Microsoft has also created BP Analyzers for your older SQL Server versions and for Windows
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (August 2008)
SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer (April 2010)
122Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer In Windows management best practices are guidelines that are considered the ideal way under typical circumstances to configure a server as defined by experts For example it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open only those ports required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and block unused ports Although best practice violations even crucial ones are not necessarily problematic they indicate server configurations that
Page 7
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
1 INTRODUCTIONThe Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a diagnostic tool that performs the following functions
Gathers information about a server and an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 that is installed on that server
Determines if the configurations are set according to the Microsoft recommended best practices
Reports on all configurations indicating settings that differ from recommendations Indicates potential problems in the installed instance of SQL Server Recommends solutions to potential problems
This tool is used by IT Professionals and Database Administrators to help ensure that their installations of SQL Server and associated products components are adhering to best practices as determined by the SQL Server Product Teams and CSS This utility scans the installation of a local or remote machine gathering system data from WMI log files the Event Log the Windows Registry and SQL Server metadata and compares the results to predefined standards It then produces a report that shows the results and points the user to additional information on the web to help them determine whether they should make changes to their systems
For every configuration the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA provides the following results
Compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server satisfies the conditions of a Best Practices rule Non-compliance results are returned when an instance of SQL Server does not satisfy the conditions of a Best Practices rule
Impact of non-compliance Recommendation Links to more detailed information and related topics
To assist you and to make your DBA life easier Microsoft includes some of these Best Practices in a couple of products ndash depending on specific purpose of the Software The following diagram illustrates the variety of tools available to check best practices for SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 in parallel or in combination with BPA
Page 5
The big picture ndash automated Best Practices of SQL Server checks offered in different flavours and products
So you will find a couple of policies in our monitoring solution
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer within more than 140 rules for database engine and other technologies
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)within the SQL Management pack (current version 6131436 release date 08172010)with more than 300 rules and 50 additional monitors
Policy Based Management in SQL Server 2005 and 2008with predefined policy collection (50+ policies)There is a whitepaper about PBM here
System Configuration Checker in the SQL Server 2008 setup wizard The SQL Risk Assessment Toolset (Premier Organisation best practice flagship) offering more
than 200 rules This offering is meant for Premier customers running the SQL RAP against their most business critical SQL instances Note This tool set is only available for Microsoft Premier Customers
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPAThe SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer is an additional ldquomodelrdquo for the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 (MBCA) A model is a set of component files that together comprise the configuration analysis and reporting output from MBCA
The MBCA is imbedded as a PowerShell cmdlet and consists of two major components the MBCA Engine and the MBCA UI
The MBCA Engine process itself consists of 2 main activities evaluation and discovery The MBCA Engine is fed by PowerShell discovery Scripts and XML Schema Files which are used during discovery The discovery activity interrogates the SQL Server Registry WMI Error- and Event-Logs
Page 6
CSS Rules Advice
and Manifests
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best
Practice Analyzer
SQL 2008 Setup
Policy Based Management
SCOM SQL MP
SQLRAP
etc The output is saved in an XML File which is then used in the evaluation activity Evaluation is performed using the Schematron file This file run by the MBCA engine contains the logic for evaluating the best practices The final step following the evaluation process is the report generation ndash which is shown in the MBCA UI
In the flow chart below you will find the anatomy of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer UniverseMicrosoft offers many technologies and utilities to produce best practices recommendations
121SQL Server BPA (older versions)Microsoft has also created BP Analyzers for your older SQL Server versions and for Windows
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (August 2008)
SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer (April 2010)
122Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer In Windows management best practices are guidelines that are considered the ideal way under typical circumstances to configure a server as defined by experts For example it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open only those ports required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and block unused ports Although best practice violations even crucial ones are not necessarily problematic they indicate server configurations that
Page 7
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
The big picture ndash automated Best Practices of SQL Server checks offered in different flavours and products
So you will find a couple of policies in our monitoring solution
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer within more than 140 rules for database engine and other technologies
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM)within the SQL Management pack (current version 6131436 release date 08172010)with more than 300 rules and 50 additional monitors
Policy Based Management in SQL Server 2005 and 2008with predefined policy collection (50+ policies)There is a whitepaper about PBM here
System Configuration Checker in the SQL Server 2008 setup wizard The SQL Risk Assessment Toolset (Premier Organisation best practice flagship) offering more
than 200 rules This offering is meant for Premier customers running the SQL RAP against their most business critical SQL instances Note This tool set is only available for Microsoft Premier Customers
11 Architecture and data flow of the BPAThe SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer is an additional ldquomodelrdquo for the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 (MBCA) A model is a set of component files that together comprise the configuration analysis and reporting output from MBCA
The MBCA is imbedded as a PowerShell cmdlet and consists of two major components the MBCA Engine and the MBCA UI
The MBCA Engine process itself consists of 2 main activities evaluation and discovery The MBCA Engine is fed by PowerShell discovery Scripts and XML Schema Files which are used during discovery The discovery activity interrogates the SQL Server Registry WMI Error- and Event-Logs
Page 6
CSS Rules Advice
and Manifests
SQL Server 2008 R2 Best
Practice Analyzer
SQL 2008 Setup
Policy Based Management
SCOM SQL MP
SQLRAP
etc The output is saved in an XML File which is then used in the evaluation activity Evaluation is performed using the Schematron file This file run by the MBCA engine contains the logic for evaluating the best practices The final step following the evaluation process is the report generation ndash which is shown in the MBCA UI
In the flow chart below you will find the anatomy of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer UniverseMicrosoft offers many technologies and utilities to produce best practices recommendations
121SQL Server BPA (older versions)Microsoft has also created BP Analyzers for your older SQL Server versions and for Windows
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (August 2008)
SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer (April 2010)
122Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer In Windows management best practices are guidelines that are considered the ideal way under typical circumstances to configure a server as defined by experts For example it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open only those ports required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and block unused ports Although best practice violations even crucial ones are not necessarily problematic they indicate server configurations that
Page 7
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
etc The output is saved in an XML File which is then used in the evaluation activity Evaluation is performed using the Schematron file This file run by the MBCA engine contains the logic for evaluating the best practices The final step following the evaluation process is the report generation ndash which is shown in the MBCA UI
In the flow chart below you will find the anatomy of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
12 Microsoft Best Practice Analyzer UniverseMicrosoft offers many technologies and utilities to produce best practices recommendations
121SQL Server BPA (older versions)Microsoft has also created BP Analyzers for your older SQL Server versions and for Windows
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (August 2008)
SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer (April 2010)
122Windows Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer In Windows management best practices are guidelines that are considered the ideal way under typical circumstances to configure a server as defined by experts For example it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open only those ports required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and block unused ports Although best practice violations even crucial ones are not necessarily problematic they indicate server configurations that
Page 7
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
can result in poor performance poor reliability unexpected conflicts increased security risks or other potential problems
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Serverreg 2008 R2 BPA can help administrators reduce best practice violations by scanning one or more roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 and reporting best practice violations to the administrator Administrators can filter or exclude results from BPA reports that they do not have to see Administrators can also perform BPA tasks by using either the Server Manager GUI or Windows PowerShell cmdlets
BPA can also be used on remote servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 by using Server Manager targeted at a remote server For more information about how to run Server Manager targeted at a remote server see Remote Management with Server Manager
The following BPA modules are currently available
Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Certificate Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practices Analyzer for Active Directory Rights Management Services Best Practices Analyzer for Application Server Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System Best Practices Analyzer for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer for File Services Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer for Internet Information Services Best Practices Analyzer for Network Policy and Access Services Best Practices Analyzer for Remote Desktop Services Best Practices Analyzer for Windows Server Update Services
More Information about Windows BPA look here
123 Fix-itCurrently there exists no link between the SQL Server Best Practice Analyzer and the Fixit webpage
httpsupportmicrosoftcomfixit
Microsoft is working on a solution to combine fixit with specific Best Practice Analyzer
httpfixitcentersupportmicrosoftcomPortal
124Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Service in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
Troubleshooting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 provides several troubleshooting programs that can automatically fix some common problems with your computer such as problems with networking hardware and devices using the web and program compatibility
Go to the Windows website to watch a video about using troubleshooters to fix common problems (330)
When you run a troubleshooter it might ask you some questions or reset common settings as it works to fix the problem If the troubleshooter fixed the problem you can close the troubleshooter If it couldnt fix the problem you can view several options that will take you online to try and find an answer In either case you can always view a complete list of changes made
Notes
Page 8
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
If you click the Advanced link on a troubleshooter and then clear the Apply repairs automatically check box the troubleshooter displays a list of fixes to choose from if any problems are found
Windows includes several troubleshooters and more are available online when you select the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service check box at the bottom of Troubleshooting
httpsupportmicrosoftcomgpsystem_maintenance_for_windows
Page 9
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Advisor is supported on the following Operating Systems
1 Windows Vista 2 Windows 7 3 Windows Server 2003 4 Windows Server 2003 R25 Windows Server 2008 6 Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported editions of SQL Server1 SQL Server 2008 all editions except Express2 SQL Server 2008 R2 all editions except Express
Supported Components of SQL Server1 Analysis Services2 Database Engine3 Integration Services4 Reporting Services5 Replication6 Setup
These components are designed as Submodels for the BPA This means that they will be run concurrently where possible
21 Required Permissions for Running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPAAdministration Privileges
To run MBCA v20 a user must be a member of the administrators group on the machine being scanned and on the machine the scan is initiated from If a user is not an administrator on the machine that is being scanned an appropriate error message displays
SQL Server
To successfully access all of the database properties and SQL Server Configurations a user must be the Systems Administrator (sysadmin) on the instance of SQL Server
Analysis Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the server administrator role within an instance of Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services have unrestricted access to all Analysis Services objects and data in that instance
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms174561aspx
Integration Services
The user or the administrators group must be members of the sysadmin or db_ssisadmin roles
httpmsdnmicrosoftcomen-uslibraryms141053aspx
Reporting Services
The user or the administrators group must be member of the System Administrator and Content Manager role
Page 10
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
22 Prerequisites The following are required for using SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
1 PowerShell V20 Windows PowerShell 20 requires the Microsoft NET Framework 20 with Service Pack 1
2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V20 3 SQL Server Management Tools for SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2
The following table outlines the prerequisite Microsoft utilities components by Operating System necessary to have on your server prior to installing and running SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
OS 1Install WinRM
2Install PowerShell 20
3Install MBCA 20
Configure PowerShell1 7 Install SQL2008 or SQL 2008 R2 Management Tools4Remoting 5Execution
Level6 MaxShells PerUser
Win Vista Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows 7 N N Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2003 R2
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008
Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Windows Server 2008 R2
N N Y Y Y Y Y
1 These changes will be done from the installation routine of the BPA
Page 11
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
3 INSTALLWe recommend installing BPA on a workstation or administration server and performing the scan operation remotely against servers in your SQL Server infrastructure It is also possible to install this tool on the production SQL Server locally
Installation process
1 InstallConfigure PowerShell and WinRM2 Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer V203 Microsoftreg SQL Serverreg 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer
It exists two ways to install the Best Practices Analyzer
With a graphical user interface (setup wizard) or Command line
31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRMBPA install configures WinRM and PowerShell options by default Most of this section is only needed if something goes wrong and you need to configure this stuff by hand
Windows Server 2003 R2
WinRM is not installed by default but it is available as the Hardware Management feature through the AddRemove System Components feature in the Control Panel under Management and Monitoring Tools Complete installation and information about configuring WinRM using the WINRM command-line tool is available online in the Hardware Management Introduction which describes the WinRM and the IPMI features in Windows Server 2003 R2
On Windows Vista Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008
This is installed as part of Windows Management Framework Core The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008 On Windows Vista the service must be started manually
On Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7
This is installed as part of the OS
Note Check for additional information and configuration guidelines for WinRM and for PowerShell 20
SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA is able to scan both the local computer and remote computers Therefore in both the local and remote cases it required that your PowerShell settings be modified These are done by the BPA installation
PowerShell Execution Policy
The PowerShell Execution Policy is set to Restricted by default To run SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA through the PowerShell command Line set the policy to RemoteSigned using the below commandSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -f
You can use the command Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted ndashf to set the execution policy back to restricted This command is not required when executing the scan through the MBCA GUI
After the installation you must enable the PowerShell remote scripting if you are want to use the BPA remote to another workgroup machine or a computer that have Kerberos enabled You need to run this command only once on each computer that will receive commands You do not need to run it on
Page 12
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
computers that only send commands Because the configuration activates listeners it is prudent to run it only where it is needed You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Enable-PSRemoting -force
Enable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Includes
1 Runs the Set-WSManQuickConfig cmdlet which performs the following tasks Starts the WinRM service Sets the startup type on the WinRM service to Automatic Creates a listener to accept requests on any IP address Enables a firewall exception for WS-Management communications Enables all registered Windows PowerShell session configurations to receive instructions
from a remote computer Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell session configuration if it is not already registered Registers the MicrosoftPowerShell32 session configuration on 64-bit computers if it is
not already registered Removes the Deny Everyone setting from the security descriptor for all the registered
session configurations Restarts the WinRM service to make the preceding changes effective
2 Configures MaxShellsPerUser using winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10`` Specifies the maximum number of concurrent shells that any user can remotely open on
the same computer If this policy setting is enabled the user will not be able to open new remote shells if the count exceeds the specified limit If this policy setting is disabled or is not configured the limit will be set to 5 remote shells per user by default and you receive the following error message[localhost] Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message The WS-Management service cannot process the request This user is allowed a maximum number of 5 concurrent shells which has been exceeded Close existing shells or raise the quota for this user For more information see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic + CategoryInfo OpenError (SystemManagemehellipRemoteRunspa ceRemoteRunspace) [] PSRemotingTransportException + FullyQualifiedErrorId PSSessionOpenFailed
For more information about PowerShell remoting please see MSDN
32 Install MBCADownload the edition of MBCA depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installation
Page 13
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Please find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the MBCA Installation
Welcome screen License terms Folder selection Completion screen
33 Install BPADownload the correct edition depending on your platform (x86 or x64) before installing If you have trouble with the installation please section 57 Troubleshooting Installation
331Command lineFollowing is an optimized command line setup examplemsiexec i SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi l log ctempsqlbpa_installlog qn
msiexec parameters
i = package name (SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi depending on your platform)
l = log granularity ldquordquo - Log all information except for v and x options log = log file q = display settings (qn ndash no user interface) SKIPCA=1 (if no domain controller is available Skip Certification Authority)
For information on additional public properties Consult the Windowsreg Installer SDK for documentation on the command line syntax
Page 14
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
332GUIPlease find below the screenshots demonstrating the visual flow of the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Installation
Welcome screen License terms System Configuration Changes (see 31 Installing PowerShell 20 and WinRM) Ready to install decision Install progress Completion screen
Page 15
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
333Port and Firewall restrictionsFor scanning SQL Server or BI instances on an alternate server behind a firewall you must open all necessary ports
34 UpdatesMicrosoft is working on quarterly updates of the rule set and tool improvements of the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer Please visit the Download site from Microsoft regularly to find new updates
35 Uninstall
351BPA
352MBCA
353Reset PowerShell settingsAfter the uninstall of the BPA you may disable the PowerShell remote scripting You can do this with the following command linepowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Noninteractive -Command Disable-PSRemoting -force
Disable-PSRemoting performs configuration actions to enable this machine for remote management
Page 16
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
4 USAGEThere are two ways to scan a server using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA They are Scanning through the local machine
o In this case you are using MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA running on the local machine to perform the scan
o This scan can be of the local or an alternate server Scanning through a remote machine
o In this case MBCA is used to connect to a remote server that has MBCA and SQL 2008 R2 BPA installed on it
o This scan is using the local machine to form the connection to the remote machine and is actually performing the scan through the remote machine
41 Help fileThe help file for the SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer contains very useful information This help file is available after the installation of BPA and is located at Start-gtAll programs-gtSQL Server 2008 R2 BPA
42 GUI1 Ensure that MBCA v2 and SQL 2008 R2 BPA are installed on the machine2 Run the MBCA application from the start menu with elevated user rights
Page 17
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
3 On the MBCA home page ensure the SQL Server 2008 R2 BPArdquo product is selected4 Click Start Scan which displays a page to specify parameters as shown below
Page 18
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
5 Fill in Alternate_Server_to_Scan with the remote machine you want to scan ComputerName IP address nnnn FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)
Enter ldquordquo localhost or leave this blank if you want to scan the local machineEnter the instance name you want to scan To scan the default instance enter MSSQLSERVER or leave this as blank Toggle the checkboxes to enabledisable scans for those rule categories
Each of the following six check boxes correspond to the SQL Server categories listed previously Select at least one category in order to run a successful scan
Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
Note Only one SQL Server instance can be scanned at a time through the MBCA GUI6 Click Start Scan MBCA will start the configured scan and display the below page while in
progress
Page 19
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
7 When the scan is complete results will be displayed grouped by Severity as shown below
43 Connect to a remote computerA scan connected to a remote computer is different than scanning an alternate server
ldquoConnect to a Remote Computerrdquo is functionality provided by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer and is used to remotely run MBCA against a server from the console of the client The client needs to have MBCA installed but does not need BPA as it is literally running the copy of MBCA installed on the server using the BPA installed on the server In this case the copy of MBCA installed on the client is used only to remotely connect to the copy of MBCA installed on the server
To use this functionality you first start MBCA on the client computer and select ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo
Page 20
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
1 In the ldquoConnect to Another Computerrdquo text box you can specify a NetBIOS name a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an IPv4 or IPv6 address If no port number is specified the default port number is used The following are examples of formats that you can specify in the Connect to Another Computer text box ComputerName ComputerNamePortNumber IP address nnnn IPv6 address [nnnnnnnn] IPv4 address with port number nnnnPortNumber IPv6 address with port number [nnnnnnnn]PortNumber
Note If an administrator has changed the computerrsquos default port number any port other than the default port must be opened in Windows Firewall to allow incoming connections on that port Port 5985 is opened by default when WinRM is configured All other ports remain blocked until opened For more information about how to unblock a port in Windows Firewall see the Help for Windows Firewall For more information about how to configure WinRM in a Command Prompt session type winrm help and then press Enter
Page 21
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
2 Additionally you must supply credentials
3 CredSSP
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) supports the delegation of user credentials across multiple remote computers The multi-hop support functionality can now use Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) for authentication CredSSP enables an application to delegate the userrsquos credentials from the client computer to the target server
CredSSP authentication is intended for environments where Kerberos delegation cannot be used Support for CredSSP was added to allow a user to connect to a remote server and have the ability to access a second-hop machine such as a file share
Note WinRM clients and servers will support CredSSP authentication only with explicit credentials Windows XP Windows Server 2003 and earlier CredSSP is not supported
First you must set CredSSP on both the client and the server
Using the Group Policy Editor (gpeditmsc) make sure to enable ldquoAllow Delegating Fresh Credentialsrdquo and check ldquoConcatenate OS defaults with input aboverdquo
Add the server or domain to the list of servers in the format ldquoWSMANdomainnamecomrdquo
Next enable and configure PowerShell Remoting on both the Client and Server by running the following commands in a PowerShell command window opened with elevated permissions Note You can configure a single machine as both a client and a server simultaneously so that you can scan from either computer
Enable PowerShell Remotingo Enable-psremoting ndashf
Settings for a cliento Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [NetBiosNameOfServer]
oro Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Client ndashDelegateComputer [FQDN OF SERVER]
Settings for the servero Enable-WSManCredSSP ndashrole Servero set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB ndashValue 20000o set-item WSManlocalhostShellMaxShellsPerUser ndashvalue 20
Page 22
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
44 PowerShellDetails see 91 PowerShell
To use the functionality of the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
441Run ScanTo run a full scan of the BPA on the alternate server on a named instance you can use the following command lineInvoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Alternate_Server_to_scan servername -SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename -Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine -Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication -Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup -Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services -Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services -Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The result looks like this partModelId SQL2008R2BPASubModelId Success TrueScanTime
Success = True is important This is the indicator that your scan was successful
Parameter description
-Alternate_Server_to_scan servername
-SQL_Server_Instance_Name instancename
Page 23
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Engine
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Replication
-Analyze_SQL_Server_Setup
-Analyze_SQL_Analysis_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Integration_Services
-Analyze_SQL_Reporting_Services
The parameter list is equal the parameter screen in the GUI
The scans of the different services are optional You can remove technologies which you do not need to scan
The next example starts the scan only for the Analysis Services on the alternate server ldquoservernamerdquo and for the named instance ldquoinstancerdquo A log file will be written to ldquoctempssastxtrdquoInvoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices -ComputerName servername -SqlServerInstance instance -SSASLogFile ctempssastxt
Invoke-MbcaModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId Engine -ComputerName computername -SqlServerInstance servername -CurrentLoginName ($EnvUSERDOMAIN + + $EnvUSERNAME)ToString() -EngineLogFile ctempenginetxt ndashRepositoryPath (CTEMPSQL2008 + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMdd))ToString()
442Create Reportmodel = get-MbcaModel ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$scanResult = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa$collectedConfig = get-MbcaResult ndashModelId sql2008r2bpa ndashCollectedConfiguration
$model $scanResult $collectedConfig | export-CliXml ctempasxml
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId AnalysisServices | ConvertTo-Html | Add-Content -Path ctesthtml
The next command retrieves the results of the most recent BPA scan for the specified model and saves them in HTML format applying the standard cascading style sheets that are stored in the path windirsystem32WindowsPowerShellv10ModulesBestPracticesBestPracticesReportFormatcss If you want to substitute cascading style sheets provide the path to the different cascading style sheetsGet-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | $_Severity -eq Warning -or $_Severity -eq Error | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumber SubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier-CssUri $env BestPracticesReportFormatcss gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 24
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
443Exporting and opening reports by using Get-MBCAResultYou can use the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to export scan results and configuration data to an XML report that you can open for viewing in the future either by using Get-MBCAResult or by using the MBCA GUI Exporting reports allows you to compare older scans with more recent scans to measure the progress of your best practice compliance
Example of exporting to XML$results = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt$collectedconfig = Get-MBCAResult ltModel Idgt -CollectedConfiguration$results $collectedconfig | Export-CliXml cexportxml
Example of opening archived XML report file$loadedResults $loadedConfiguration = Import-CliXml cexportxml
444Report Result DirectoryThe reporting result pathAppDataMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Will be overwritten during each run of the tool or invoke commandSolution save older results before you start the checkcopy-item -path ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports)ToString() -destination ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2Reports_ + (Get-Date)ToString(yyyyMMddhhmmss))ToString() ndashrecurse
Afterwards you can create a report with the following command$prevrepPath = (Get-ChildItem ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2)ToString() -exclude Reports | Sort-Object name -descending)[0]
Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA ndashRepositoryPath ($EnvLocalAppdata + MicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2rdquo + $prevrepPathname)ToString() | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -property ResultNumberSubModelID ComputerName Severity Category Title Problem Impact Resolution Help -Head lth1gtSQL Server 2008 (R2) Best Practice Analyzer Reportlth1gtrdquo -Title SQL Server 2008 Best Practice Analyzer -body (ltpgtReport creation date + (Get-Date)ToString(ddMMyyyy hhmmss) + ltpgt)toString() -pre ltPgtGenerated by user $envusername on computer $envcomputernameltPgt -post For details contact Microsoft Premier gt ctempsql2008r2bpahtm
Page 25
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
5 TROUBLESHOOTING
51 Application directoriesTo following directories are used by MBCA
Report output directory localappdataMicrosoftMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer 2ReportsSQL2008R2BPAResults
Model configuration path ProgramdataMicrosoftMicrosoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2ModelsSQL2008R2BPA
Temp and log files directory tempSQL2008R2BPASQL2008ltdategt_lttimegt
Registry [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftBaselineConfigurationAnalyzer]
Log Files
During Data Discovery SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA creates log files for troubleshooting The log file contains the following information
Pre-requisite validation Timestamp finished rules start and end times Run-time scripting errors and exceptions from Power Shell Traps
Log Files Location
For every scan log files are created in userrsquos Local Temp directory (Temp) and follows the folder structure SQL2008R2BPAlt Instance Name gtlt datestamp_timestamp gtlt Log files gt
Note In case of a remote scan the category log files are generated on the remote system at the same path whereas the common log file is generated in the local system
Log Files Structure
A common log file gets generated and contains information about each categorys execution Apart from this each category has its own log file which details the rule execution The names of the log files are given below
Common File - ModelLogtxt Engine Rules - EngineLogtxt Replication Rules - ReplicationLogtxt Setup Rules - SetupLogtxt Analysis Services Rules - AnalysisServicesLogtxt Reporting Services Rules - ReportingServicesLogtxt Integration Services Rules - IntegrationServicesLogtxt
52 Windows Server 2003 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessorsAnalysis Services RID2803 and RID2804 ndash NumberOfLogicalProcessors property is unavailable in Win32_Processor for with Windows Server 2003
Solution The NumberOfLogicalProcessors property does not exist in the WIN32_PROCESSOR object in Windows Server 2003 It has been implemented in the hotfix httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb932370
Both of the rules below will function properly if you apply this hotfix For more information look here
Page 26
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
53 MBCAThis message indicates that on prerequisite is not installed
Please install the version 2 of the MBCA
54 Where can I find the Instance name in result set of the analyzer report
The instance name is in the collected data option of the analyzer report in the BPA GUI
55 Memory limit of remote PowerShell processBy default remote PowerShell process can consume only 150 MB or less memory This default limit is significantly small and once this limit is reached there could be a WinRM exception causing and remote connection immediately terminates Any application or Cmdlet which is involved in PowerShell remoting should be tested for this memory limit this may cause some of the command to fail for example site collection creation
Solution Increase the memory limit for the remote shell Use the following command to increase this limitation to 1000MB This is only necessary if you need to run those commands on that serverSet-Item WSManlocalhostShellMaxMemoryPerShellMB 1000
56 Remote connectIf you try to ldquoConnect to another computerrdquo from MBCA and you receive the following message
Page 27
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
You should check first if the Hotfix KB968930 is installed
Afterwards validate that the ldquoWindows Remote Managementrdquo service is started
Enable-PSRemoting
If CredSSP is unsupported or unavailable you will see the following message
Page 28
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
If you have no permission to access the remote server you get the error message
Page 29
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
57 Installation
571PowerShell errorAfter getting through the Pre-Reqs for BPA (PowerShell 20 MBCA NET Framework) you may hit one of two scenarios when installing BPA
In all of the cases of an install failure you will see the following error
There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor
In your Application Event Log for both of these scenarios you will also see the following entryLog Name Application Source MsiInstaller Date 6102010 83818 AM Event ID 11722 Task Category None Level Error Keywords Classic User ltUsernamegt Computer ltMachine namegt Description Product Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA -- Error 1722 There is a problem with this Windows Installer package A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected Contact your support personnel or package vendor Action EnablePSRemoting location powershellexe command -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
Page 30
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
This is an indicator that PowerShell is not configured You must run the following commandpowershellexe -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command Enable-PSRemoting ndashforce
572Workgroup or Non-Domain computerIn this scenario the Enable-PSRemoting command should execute fine from a PowerShell prompt The actual error coming back from the PowerShell command within the Installer is ldquoAccess Deniedrdquo
To work around this issue you can do the following
1 Open a command prompt with Administrative Privileges 2 Change to the directory where the msi file resides 3 Type msiexec i ltMSI Namegt SKIPCA=1 4 MSI Name will either be SQL2008R2BPA_Setup32msi or SQL2008R2BPA_Setup64msi
depending on your platform 5 Once BPA is installed open a PowerShell prompt with Administrative Privileges 6 Execute the following commands
a Enable-PSRemoting b winrm set winrmconfigwinrs ``MaxShellsPerUser=`10``
This should allow BPA to be successfully installed in the workgroup scenario
573Kerberos FailureThis scenario is that you are failing with the above due to a Kerberos issue This particular issue could actually show up after you have installed BPA depending on how you have configured your environment
The issue stems from the fact that the Windows Remoting Windows Service uses the Network Service account Windows Remoting also uses SOAP calls over HTTP and defaults to using Kerberos As a result it will be using the HOST Service Principal Name (SPN) that is on the Machine Account as it is running under that context You may have an HTTP SPN that resides on a different account with that host name For example if you are running an IIS Web Application such as SharePoint or if you are using Reporting Services and the service account is set to a Domain User account instead of Network Service or Local System If your URL of your application matches the machine name then your HTTP SPN will be the same Thatrsquos where this problem comes in WinRM will stop working at that point and give you a message similar to the followingSet-WSManQuickConfig WinRM cannot process the request The following error occured while using Negotiate authentication An unknown security error occurred Possible causes are -The user name or password specified are invalid -Kerberos is used when no authentication method and no user name are specified -Kerberos accepts domain user names but not local user names -The Service Principal Name (SPN) for the remote computer name and port does not exist -The client and remote computers are in different domains and there is no trust between the two domains After checking for the above issues try the following -Check the Event Viewer for events related to authentication -Change the authentication method add the destination computer to the WinRM TrustedHosts configuration setting or use HTTPS transport Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated -For more information about WinRM configuration run the following
Page 31
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
command winrm help config At line50 char33 + Set-WSManQuickConfig ltltltlt -force + CategoryInfo InvalidOperation () [Set-WSManQuickConfig] InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId WsManErrorMicrosoftWSManManagementSetWSManQuickConfigCommandYou can get this type of error from WinRM for muliple reasons The one that we saw in our testing was the HTTP SPN scenario
If you do have an HTTP SPN defined on a Domain Account that is using the name of your machine you have some options First you can follow the steps mentioned above to get BPA installed The Enable-PSRemoting command will give you the above error You can temporarily remove the HTTP SPN to get remoting enabled and then re-add the HTTP SPN
Once BPA is setup you will still not be able to run BPA if you put the HTTP SPN back in place You will see the following when you attempt to perform a scan
This will occur regardless of which component you try to scan It could be the Engine Setup RS etchellip
One option to perform the scan successfully is to temporarily remove the HTTP SPN again run the scan and then put the HTTP SPN back in place Another option but one that will probably require further testing from your applicationrsquos end would be to run the application under a Host Header and then your HTTP SPN would not include the machine name allowing BPA to run without issue
Page 32
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
6 RULESSearching for ldquoSQL Server 20087 R2 BPArdquo at Microsoftcom reveals
Here is an example of one of these articles that talks about a rule to check for a recent ldquocleanrdquo CHECKDB
Page 33
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
BPA works by measuring a rolersquos compliance with best practice rules in eight different categories of a rolersquos effectiveness trustworthiness and reliability Results of measurements can be any of the three severity levels described in the following table
Severity level Description
Noncompliant Noncompliant results are returned when a role does not satisfy the conditions of a rule
Compliant Compliant results are returned when a role satisfies the conditions of a rule
Warning Warning results are returned when a role is compliant as operating currently but may not satisfy the conditions of a rule if changes are not made to its configuration or policy settings For example a scan of Remote Desktop Services might show a warning result if a license server is unavailable to the role because even if no remote connections are active at the time of the scan not having the license server prevents new remote connections from obtaining valid client access licenses
BPA rule categories
Page 34
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
The following table describes the categories of best practice rules against which roles are measured during a BPA scan
Category Name Description
Security Security rules are applied to measure a rolersquos relative risk for exposure to threats such as unauthorized or malicious users or loss or theft of confidential or proprietary data
Performance Performance rules are applied to measure a rolersquos ability to process requests and perform its prescribed duties in the enterprise within expected periods of time given the rolersquos workload
Configuration Configuration rules are applied to identify role settings that might require modification for the role to perform optimally Configuration rules can help prevent setting conflicts that can result in error messages or prevent the role from performing its prescribed duties in an enterprise
Policy Policy rules are applied to identify Group Policy or Windows Registry settings that might require modification for the role to operate optimally and securely
Operation Operation rules are applied to identify possible failures of a role to perform its prescribed tasks in the enterprise
Predeployment Predeployment rules are applied before an installed role is deployed in the enterprise to let administrators to evaluate whether best practices were satisfied before you use the role in production
Postdeployment Postdeployment rules are applied after all required services have started for a role and the role is running in the enterprise
BPA Prerequisites BPA Prerequisite rules explain configuration settings policy settings and features that are required for the role before BPA can apply specific rules from other categories A prerequisite in scan results indicates that an incorrect setting a missing role role service or feature an incorrectly enabled or disabled policy a registry key setting or other configuration has prevented BPA from applying one or more rules during a scan A prerequisite result does not imply compliance or noncompliance It means that a rule could not be applied and therefore is not part of the scan results
61 Engine RulesPlease find below a summary of the 74 Engine Rules with the links to the rule descriptions These rules are checking that you have a secure resilient and well performing SQL configuration
Authentication Mode (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028697) Lightweight Pooling is enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160691) Locks Configuration Not Dynamic (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199576) non-default network packet size in use (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157175) degree of parallelism not set to recommended value (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023536) Use Database Mail instead of SQL Mail (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028584) SQL Server Agent Proxy Account (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160741) SQL Login Password Policy Strength and password expiry
(httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028712) Trustworthy Bit (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2183687) Symmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) Asymmetric Keys Check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2162020) SQL Server installed on PDC BDC (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2032911) SQL Server Admin role membership check (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2184138) Windows API calls intercepted (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033238) unsupported DotNET framework assemblies present (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033344) Disk partition starting offset may be incorrect (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2023571) non-default max worker threads value configured (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157129)
Page 35
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Guest Permissions (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2186935) Data and Log files on the same volume (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033523) IO timeouts and IO controller errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO device errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO errors during page faults detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) cluster disk corruption encountered (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) disk defragmentation encountered corruption (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) failed IO requests detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) IO requests are successful when retried (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015757) IO Delay Problems reported by SQL Server (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137408) This system experienced unexpected shutdowns (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091098) tempdb corruption errors fix missing (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb960770) Critical SQL database inconsistency errors found (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152734) Logical consistency errors detected (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2152472) Database have auto shrink option enabled (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160663) SQL Server Error logs are very big (httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2199578) incorrect affinity mask settings detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157114 Very low blocked process threshold setting detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157154 Potential security issue with legacy DTS stored procedures
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202875 Winsock LSP loaded into SQL httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033448 Databases using simple recovery model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2137539 User database collation different from model httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2026108 Database files and backups exist on the same volume httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Databases have auto close option enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160685 LSI SAS drivers needs update httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQL tempdb database not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2154845 SQL Database file has sparse attribute set httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028447 Invalid startup parameters httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028433 MSDTC settings not configured optimally httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027550 sql incorrect results fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971780 File System needs tuning for better FileStream performance
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160002 linked server memory leak fix missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb971622EN-US Windows service pack is not at recommended level httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 default extended event health session not in expected state
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160570 TcpSysAndChimneyCheck httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483 FDHOST Launcher service is not configured properly httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 Unrecommended SQL Server Agent service account httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160720 A required Windows fix to avoid sparse file related problems is missing
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2002606 Significant Portion of SQL Server Memory Has Been Paged Out
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028324 Server Exception or Hang Detected on Server httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028589 Databases exist without CHECKSUM protection httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2078345 backups outdated for databases httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027537 Database consistency check not current httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2033590 SQL Server Memory settings are incorrect httpsupportmicrosoftcomKB918483EN-US Autogrow Failed or took a long time httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2091024 Storport driver fix from KBA 940467 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098
Page 36
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Storport driver fix from KBA 950903 missing httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 SQLCLR needs additional memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb969962EN-US Operating System files and drivers needs update for working set trimming
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2121098 Agent Token Replacement httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2202637 Auditing Log in failures httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2187161 Databases with high number of VLF present httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028436 Transparent Data Encryption Certificate httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2201900 Permission on the Binn folder httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2029023 Index Statistics Are Outdated Server public permissions httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2160698 Detected use of older versions of SQLNCLI httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb979779
62 AS RulesPlease find below a summary of the 34 Analysis Server Rules with the links to the rule descriptions
Flight Recorder Enabled for SQL Server Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2128005
Excessive amount of memory preallocated to Analysis Services httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027474
Server not configured for optimal concurrent query throughput httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135031
Non standard value detected for Analysis Services memory configuration httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027472
Process Thread Pool Max limit above recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134497
Process Thread Pool Minimum is below the recommended limit httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134855
Server is running a build with a known regression httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157941 Slice not set on a ROLAP partition or a partition where proactive caching is enabled and
ROLAP storage ay occur httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027754 Server is ignoring duplicate key errors httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027761 No default member defined for non-aggregatable attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027769 UnknownMember set to hidden httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027628 Non-numeric key column for high cardinality attribute httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028138 Attribute hiearchy enabled for high cardinality non-key attribute
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2028143 ROLAP storage or OnlineMode set to immediate for dimension with custom rollup definition
detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2132742 Account or Time attribute types defined in a non-matching dimension type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157299 An Account or Time dimension has no matching attribute defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027418 Dimension has no attribute defined with the same type
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027443 Attribute Dimension type mismatch httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157327 Mismatched dimension attribute types detected in dimension
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027459 Possible incorrect order of levels defined in hierarchy httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027460
Page 37
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Define attribute relationships as Rigid where possible httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027468 Redundant attribute relationships detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127437 Diamond-shape relationship detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127570 Non-Standard Attribute Relationship name detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2127862 Proactive Caching set for dimension without a processing query
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027541 No Time dimension detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027532 More than 3 parent-child dimensions with custom rollups defined
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2134431 Encountered a parent-child dimension with more than 500000 members
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2131918 Single attribute dimensions detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2141654 Measure groups with zero dimensional overlap detected in cube
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027609 Proactive Caching set for a partition without a processing query Default measure for perspective not in the perspective httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027603 Use MOLAP storage for dimensions that participate in semi-additive measure groups
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2135112 Measure group defined with no partition httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027545
63 RS Rules RSWindowsNegotiate is missing from your configuration
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145506 HTTP Logging is not enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2145909 Verbose logging is enabled httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146315 NTLM authentication may fail for local httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146369 Missing extended protection settings httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2146062
64 IS Rules Logging task missing for package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027723 ActiveX Script task detected in package httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027712 Unrecommended Integration Services service account detected
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027684 Integration Services logging table found in system database master and or msdb
httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027706 Integration Services memory dump detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2027727
65 Setup Rules Unsupported Operating System Version Detected httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2022909 WOW64 not supported for SQL Failover Clustering httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2157198 Installer cache is missing for the SQL Installation httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2015100 SQL Server WMI Provider Health Check
66 Replication Rules Replication Timeout Alerts Type httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118349 Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Data Validation) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118386
Page 38
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Constraint Violations) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118410
Replication Pub and Sub out of sync (Skipped Transactions) httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2194498
Merge Replication Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118445 Subscriptions Approaching Expiration httpgomicrosoftcomfwlinkLinkId=184483 Replication Cleanup and Retention Health Check httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118485 Replication Latency Threshold violations httpsupportmicrosoftcomkb2118425
Page 39
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
7 HOW TO DEAL WITH DEVIATIONSDeviations from these Best Practices may indicate potential issues and configuration changes may be necessary Make sure you have tested any intended changes in a test environment before deploying them to a production environment You could also find deviations from Best Practices that are acceptable or even necessary for your environment For example
SAP has its special Network Packet Size of 8 KB Existing Non-Microsoft Clients ndash would require Mixed Mode Authentication
Page 40
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
8 MOTIVATION TO USE SQL BPA R2Bob Ward explained in his Article ldquoWhy use SQL Server 2008 R2 BPA Case 1 Missing Updatesrdquo the common pitfalls during maintenance and operation of SQL Server and how address them by using the SQL BPA
In brief itrsquos a customer scenario where the customer is facing an issue after a major update to SQL2008 After some troubleshooting and an update to a certain CU (that is meant to fix the issue) the problem still occurs Bobs article states the common resulting consequences ndash the involvement of Microsoft Support and the final solution ndash adding a needed traceflag
The good news in this story is that the customer would not have needed to go to all that effort if they would have run the SQL BPA It would have told them about the update and instructed them to put the traceflag in place BPA is a mechanism that proactively advises you and instructs you on dealing with common known issues
Page 41
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
9 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
91 PowerShellTo use the functionality of the Baseline Configuration Analyzer with PowerShell you must import this module firstImport-module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer
You can list the commands of this module with the following syntax$x=Get-Module BaselineConfigurationAnalyzer$xExportedCommands
The following commands are stored in this module
Get-MbcaModel Get-MbcaResult Invoke-MbcaModel Set-MbcaResult
You get help of this command with the following syntaxGet-help ltcommandgt -full
911Get-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and that are installed on a computer
SYNTAX
Get-MBCAModel [[-ModelId] ltstring[]gt] [[-SubModelId] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the list of models that are supported by Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) and installed on the computer If no parameter is specified Get-MBCAModel returns all models that are installed on the computer If a model is specified by using the -ModelId parameter information about the specified model is returned
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet include the following details about models
1 Branding information (manufacturer or company display names version number) that is found in the model manifest
2 Dynamic parameters that are included with the model3 Submodels that are included with the model
PARAMETERS
-ModelId ltstring[]gt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet with no parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Page 42
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
This parameter supports wild card characters
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model about which you want to view details You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet without parameters and targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
ExamplesGet-MBCAModel
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel with no parameters added returns details about all MBCA models that are installed on the computerGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA model that is specified in the -ModelId parameter represented by Model Id$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA$modelParameters
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the Parameters property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns details about which parameters are supported by the modelGet-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
The preceding example can be used to return details about the MBCA sub-model that is specified by the -SubModelId parameter represented by SubModel Id Note that the -ModelId parameter is required by the -SubModelId parameter$model= Get-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Page 43
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
$modelSubModels
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel returns details about the specified MBCA model that is represented by Model Id The results of the cmdlet are stored in the variable $model
In the next line of the example the SubModels property of the model details that were stored in the $model object returns a list of the submodels of the model specified in the first line
912 Invoke-MBCAModel SYNOPSIS
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer
SYNTAXInvoke-MBCAModel [-ModelId] ltstringgt -SubModelId ltstringgt [-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt] [-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt] [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-ConfigurationName ltstringgt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Credential ltstringgt] [-Mode ltModeEnumgt] [-Port ltintgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [-ThrottleLimit ltintgt] [-UseSSL] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet allows you to start a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan for a specific model that is installed on your computer The model is specified either by using the parameter -ModelId or by piping the results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet into an Invoke-MBCAMode cmdlet
After the MBCA scan has been performed the results of the scan are available to be retrieved by Get-MBCAResult cmdlet
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Authentication ltAuthenticationMechanismgt
Specifies the authentication mechanism that is used to authenticate the users credentials Valid values include Default Basic CredSSP Digest Kerberos Negotiate and NegotiateWithImplicitCredential The default value is Default
For more information about the -Authentication parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Authentication
Required false
Position named
Default value Default
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-CertificateThumbprint ltstringgt
Page 44
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has rights to perform the cmdlet action The valid value is the certificate thumbprint of the certificate
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Certificate Thumbprint
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet lets you run an MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer by adding this parameter Valid values include NETBOS names IP addresses or fully-qualified domain names of one or more computers in a comma-separated list To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost
All formats that are accepted by the -ComputerName parameter in Invoke-Command are accepted
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ConfigurationName ltstringgt
Specifies the session configuration that is used for a new PSSession
Enter a configuration name or the fully-qualified resource URI for a session configuration Session configuration data is found on the remote computer on which you want to run a cmdlet
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ConfigurationName
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
The -Context parameter lets you run scans on a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to run a scan on the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
Page 45
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Credential ltstringgt
Specifies a user account that has permission to run this cmdlet The default value is the current user
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Credential
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Mode ltModeEnumgt
The -Mode parameter lets you run a scan that is exclusively either analysis of existing discovered documents or discovery The default is to perform both discovery and analysis or All
If you do not add the -Mode parameter to the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet both discovery and analysis are performed during a scan
Valid values are Discovery Analysis and All
Required false
Position named
Default value All
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
Page 46
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-Port ltintgt
Specifies the network port on a remote computer on which you want to run a scan The default value is port 80
For more information on this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter Port
Required false
Position named
Default value 80
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a pathname If the parameter is not used the cmdlet writes results to the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model that you want to scan You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ThrottleLimit ltintgt
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run the cmdlet If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0 the default value of 32 is used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter ThrottleLimit
Required false
Page 47
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Position named
Default value 32
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-UseSSL [ltSwitchParametergt]
Uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection on a remote computer By default SSL is not used
For more information about this parameter type the following and then press Enter
Get-Help Invoke-Command -Parameter UseSSL
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceInvokeBpaModelOutputgt
The output object encapsulates the results of the cmdlet that you entered It contains information such as the MBCA model ID the success or failure of the cmdlet and other details
NOTES
If the cmdlet is used to perform a single-model scan and the cmdlet is cancelled (by using CTRL+C) before the temporary results file is copied to its final location the temporary file is discarded and any previous scan results file for the role are preserved The message Processing of Invoke-MBCAModel cancelled by user is displayed if the command is cancelled before existing scan results files are overwritten
If the cmdlet is used to perform a scan of multiple models by piping in results from the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet and the command is cancelled scans that were completed before the cancel command was entered cannot be cancelled A scan in progress behaves as described above in the single-model scan cancellation scenario Subsequent scans in the pipeline are cancelled
If a concurrent scan of the same model is attempted the cmdlet returns the following error message Another scan for this MBCA model is in progress Only one scan is allowed at a time
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example starts a MBCA scan on the model that is represented by ltModel Idgt
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
Page 48
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Scope domain -Name redmondmicrosoftcom
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model ID that is specified by Model Id
The administrator starts the MBCA scan with additional model-specific parameters that are exposed by the model (For an example of how to obtain model-specific parameters see the examples for the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet)
For example to scan a model that requires model-specific parameters (such as -Scope and -Name) to be passed to the command the administrator can specify the values of these model-specific parameters with the Invoke-MBCAModel cmdlet
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Discovery
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The cmdlet is instructed by the -Mode parameter to perform only the discovery -- not the analysis -- portion of the scan
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -Mode Analysis -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the model that is represented by Model Id The -Mode parameter value of Analysis indicates that the scan will perform analysis -- not discovery -- on existing documents that are specified in the non-default repository path provided with the -Repository Path parameter
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Invoke-MBCAModel -Id ltModel Idgt -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRespository Pathgt -AsJob -Authentication ltAuthenticatonMechanismgt -Port ltPort Numbergt -UseSSL -ThrottleLimit ltThrottle Limitgt
Description
The preceding example starts an MBCA scan on the submodel that is represented by SubModel Id and on the computer that is represented by Server
Because the administrator only wants to see results from the submodel that apply in the context of a third model the administrator runs the scan within the context of the model ID that is specified in the -Context parameter The cmdlet results are saved to the non-default repository path that is specified in the -RepositoryPath parameter
Because the -AsJob parameter is added the scan runs in the background The -AsJob -Authentication -Port -UseSSL and -ThrottleLimit parameters are passed through for use by the Invoke-Command cmdlet to perform discovery on a remote computer For more information about these parameters see the Help for the Invoke-Command cmdlet available in Windows PowerShell V2
913Get-MBCAResultSYNOPSIS
Page 49
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan
SYNTAXGet-MBCAResult [-ModelId] ltstringgt [[-CollectedConfiguration]] -SubModelId ltstringgt [-ComputerName ltstring[]gt] [-Context ltstringgt] [-Filter ltFilterEnumgt] [-RepositoryPath ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you retrieve and view the results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan on a specific model or the configuration data that was used to run a scan To use the command add the -ModelId parameter and then specify the model ID for which you want to view the most recent MBCA scan results or collected configuration data If you want to retrieve the configuration data collected add the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-CollectedConfiguration [ltSwitchParametergt]
The -CollectedConfiguration parameter allows you to obtain the configuration data that was collected for the most recent MBCA scan If this switch parameter is added to Get-MBCAResults the cmdlet returns only the configuration data that was collected for a scan
Required false
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ComputerName ltstring[]gt
The -ComputerName parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel on a specific computer To specify the local computer type the computer name or localhost Multiple values for -ComputerName can be separated by commas
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -ComputerName parameter
Valid values for the -ComputerName parameter include localhost a NET BIOS name an IP address or a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of one or more computers in a comma-separated list
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Context ltstringgt
Page 50
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
The -Context parameter lets you obtain scan results that were collected for the most recent MBCA scan of a submodel in the context of a specific model (one that is different from the parent model of the submodel) For example an administrator might want to display scan results for the Backend submodel of the SQL model but only those in the context of a third model a technology that relies upon SQL Server
The -SubModelId parameter is required by the -Context parameter
A model ID is the valid value of the -Context parameter
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Filter ltFilterEnumgt
The -Filter parameter lets you instruct the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only Compliant Noncompliant or All results Valid values are Noncompliant Compliant or All The default value is All
The -Filter parameter is ignored if the -CollectedConfiguration switch parameter is added
Required false
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-ModelId ltstringgt
The -ModelId parameter specifies the ID of the MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the ModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed
Required true
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (By Value By Property Name)
Accept wildcard characters False
This must be SQL2008R2BPA for SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practice Analyzer
-RepositoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet obtains results from the default result repository
Required false
Position named
Page 51
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-SubModelId ltstringgt
The -SubModelId parameter specifies the ID of the submodel of an MBCA model for which you want to view scan results You can obtain valid values for the -SubModelId parameter by running the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet targeted at a computer on which MBCA models are installed Not all models have submodels
The -ModelId parameter is required with the -SubModelId parameter
Required true
Position named
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type get-help about_commonparameters
OUTPUTS
SystemCollectionsGenericListltMicrosoftBestPracticesCoreInterfaceResultgt OR SystemXmlXmlDocument (if -CollectedData specified)
If you do not use the -CollectedConfiguration parameter verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Results2 Attempting to get MBCA results for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA results for Model Id = 0 Number of Results = 1
If you add the -CollectedConfiguration parameter to display configuration data that was used for a scan verbose output can be any of the following
1 Initializing MBCA engine for getting MBCA Configuration Data2 Attempting to get MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 03 Completed getting MBCA collected configuration data for Model Id = 0
NOTES
The Get-MBCAResult cmdlet must be run by a member of the Administrators group and it does not start a new scan
Cancellation behaviour
Single Model - To cancel this cmdlet you must press Ctrl+C before the ResultCollection is displayed on the console The operation is cancelled and results are not displayed on the console
Multiple Models or Pipelining - If you cancel this cmdlet while it is retrieving results for multiple models the cmdlet generates only those results that were displayed on the console before the cancellation Any subsequent results in the pipeline are cancelled and not displayed
Page 52
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -Id SQL2008R2BPA
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------Get-MBCAModel | Get-MBCAResult
In the preceding example Get-MBCAModel is used to return a list of all MBCA models that are installed on the computer The results of the Get-MBCAModel cmdlet are piped to the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve the most recent MBCA scan results for all models that are both supported by MBCA and installed on the computer at which the cmdlet is targeted
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------$result = Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -CollectedConfiguration$resultDiscoveryDocument
Description
In the preceding example configuration data (in XML form) that was collected during the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan of the model that is represented by Model Id is retrieved and stored as a property in the variable $result $resultDiscoveryDocument is of type SystemXmlXmlDocument
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -Filter Noncompliant
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Model Id and then applies a filter to show only Noncompliant results
------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId Note that the parent model ID must be specified to use the -SubModelId parameter
------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult SQL2008R2BPA -SubModelId ltSubModel Idgt -ComputerName ltServergt -Context ltContext Model Idgt -RepositoryPath ltRepository Pathgt
Description
The preceding example returns the most recent Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the submodel that is represented by SubModelId The parent model ID is provided as required by the -SubModelID parameter
The -Context parameter indicates that the administrator wants to see only those scan results that are in the context of the model that is represented by Context Model Id for example only those results from a SQL Server scan that specifically apply to another technology such as Web Server (IIS)
Page 53
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
The scan results are further narrowed to only those from a computer that is specified in the -ComputerName parameter as Server and only those results found in the non-default results repository that is represented by Repository Path
914Set-MBCAResult SYNOPSIS
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
SYNTAXSet-MBCAResult [[-Exclude] ltBooleangt] [-Results] ltResultgtgt [[-RepostitoryPath] ltstringgt] [ltCommonParametersgt]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-MBCAResult cmdlet lets you exclude or include existing results of a Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA) scan to show you only the scan results that you want to see
The action specified in the cmdlet (Exclude for example) determines how the existing results of an MBCA scan are updated Set-MBCAResult is typically applied after using the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return a collection of scan results
You can apply filters to results that are returned by the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet and then pipe the filtered collection of results to the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet specifying either to include or exclude filtered scan results
You must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to run this cmdlet and you must run the cmdlet in a Windows PowerShell session that has been opened with elevated user rights that is Run as Administrator
PARAMETERS
-Exclude ltBooleangt
Excludes scan results from the results collection that were previously obtained by the Get-MBCAResult command To exclude results by using the -Exclude parameter add the value $true following the parameter as shown
-Exclude $true
To include results that have been excluded use the $false value for the -Exclude parameter
Required false
Position 2
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-RepostitoryPath ltstringgt
The -RepositoryPath parameter is used to specify a non-default location of the results repository The valid value for this parameter is a path name If the parameter is not used the cmdlet modifies results from the default result repository
Required false
Page 54
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Position 4
Default value
Accept pipeline input false
Accept wildcard characters false
-Results ltResultgtgt
Specifies the result collection to be updated by the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet The -Results parameter is typically used to specify a filtered subset of scan results that has already been stored in a variable the variable name is provided as the valid value for the -Results parameter
For example if you have created a variable $allPerformance to store all the Performance category results for an MBCA scan of all models on a computer and you want to exclude those Performance results from the complete collection of scan results you add the parameter -Results $all Performance to a Set-MBCAResult cmdlet
For a more detailed example see the Examples section of the Help for this cmdlet
Required true
Position 3
Default value
Accept pipeline input true (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters false
ltCommonParametersgt
This cmdlet supports the common parameters Verbose Debug ErrorAction ErrorVariable WarningAction WarningVariable OutBuffer and OutVariable For more information type ldquoget-help about_commonparameters
NOTES
If the Set-MBCAResult command is cancelled before the results are written to a file the operation is cancelled and the results file is not modified If cancellation occurs after the results file has been modified the commands actions are carried out and the command cannot be cancelled
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA | Where $_Category -eq Performance | Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true
Description
The first section of the preceding example to the left of the first pipe character (|) uses the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model ID that is represented by Model Id
The second section of the command filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to get only those scan results for which the category name is equal to Performance
The final section of the example following the second pipe character excludes the Performance results that were filtered by the previous section of the example
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------$rcPolicy = Get-MBCAResult -ModelId SQL2008R2BPA -RepositoryPath CReposPath | Where $_Category -eq Policy
Page 55
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Set-MBCAResult -Exclude $true -RepositoryPath CReposPath -Results $rcPolicy
Description
The first line of the preceding example to the left of the pipe character (|) instructs the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to retrieve Baseline Configuration Analyzer scan results for the model that is represented by Specified Model Id from the specified non-default repository path
The second section of the example after the pipe character filters the results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet to return only those scan results for which the category name is equal to (note the -eq option) Policy The variable $rcPolicy is created to store the filtered results of the Get-MBCAResult cmdlet this variable can be used in subsequent commands to represent those results
The second line of the command uses the Set-MBCAResult cmdlet to exclude the set of results that are stored in the $rcPolicy variable In this example the -Results parameter is added because the administrator wants to exclude a specific subset of scan results for that model and has created the variable $rcPolicy to represent that subset of results The repository root is specified in the second line because the administrator wants to modify the results in the same non-default repository from which the data in $rcPolicy was retrieved
915MBCA Model AuthoringFurther information about configuration and usage of MBCA models you can in the MBCA_ModelAuthoringGuidedocx
Page 56
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57
Did this paper help you Please give us your feedback Tell us on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) how would you rate this paper and why have you given it this rating For example Are you rating it high due to having good examples excellent screen shots clear writing or
another reason Are you rating it low due to poor examples fuzzy screen shots or unclear writing
This feedback will help us improve the quality of white papers we release
Send feedback
Page 57