Monitoring status explained - SQL Monitor

SQL Monitor displays one of the following statuses on the Configuration > Monitored servers page for each host machine, cluster node or SQL Server instance:

Monitoring (Connected)

Displayed when:	All monitoring data is being collected successfully.
	Click Show log and select All events to view all data collection events in the last five minutes.

Monitoring stopped (Incorrect credentials or insufficient permissions)

Displayed when:

SQL Monitor is currently unable to collect monitoring data because the credentials it is using have failed authentication. A Monitoring stopped ([host machine|SQL Server] credentials) alert is also raised.

Suggested action:

For host machine authentication failures, check that the credentials supplied to log in are valid and have sufficient permissions to collect WMI data, read the registry, and access files.
For SQL Server instance authentication failures, check that the user name and password are correct and the log in has the required permissions.
For more information, see Account permissions required by SQL Monitor.

After an authorization error, SQL Monitor will not attempt to reconnect until you either change the credentials specified in SQL Monitor or change the account permissions (in this case, you will need to click Retry connection on the Monitored Servers page).

Once the correct credentials are entered and authentication is successful, monitoring will resume and the Monitoring stopped ([host machine|SQL Server] credentials) alert will be marked as Ended.

Unreachable (Cannot connect)

Displayed when:

One of the following reasons applies:

The host machine or cluster node is not responding to Ping requests; either the machine name is incorrect or there is a network problem. A Machine unreachable alert is also raised, and a SQL Server instance unreachable alert is raised for each instance on the machine.
The SQL Server service has been stopped or there is a problem with SQL connectivity. A SQL Server instance unreachable alert is also raised.
The Remote Registry service is not started or remote file access is not set up. If this problem occurs continuously for 2 minutes, a Monitoring error ([host machine|SQL Server] data collection) alert is also raised.

Suggested action:

Check that you have entered the server name correctly, and that your machine is not behind a firewall.
Click Show log and check the Exception and Exception message columns displayed in the table of data collection events to determine the specific problem.
For more information, see Testing data collection methods.

Connection failed (Internal SQL Monitor error)

Displayed when:

An unknown application error has occurred.

If this problem occurs continuously for 2 minutes, a Monitoring error ([host machine|SQL Server] data collection) alert is also raised.

Suggested action:

Please contact Red Gate support with information about your error, including relevant log file details. See Log files in SQL Monitor.

Connection failed (Bad data)

Displayed when:

SQL Monitor cannot process some data collected from the host machine or cluster node. Possible reasons are:

The performance counter library may be corrupt and needs rebuilding. For information about rebuilding your PerfMon library, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300956.
A WMI provider may be corrupt and needs rebuilding. For information about troubleshooting WMI, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff406382.aspx.
You are running a 32-bit SQL Server instance on a 64-bit Windows machine, and some performance counter objects are not available. For more information, see this MSDN article on 64-bit Support.

Suggested action:

Click Show log and refer to the Exception and Exception message columns in the table of data collection events to determine the specific problem.

Connection failed (Cannot connect)

Displayed when:

One of the following reasons applies:

Remote file access is not set up (hidden administrative shares should be enabled).
One of the required services (WMI, Remote Registry) is not started.
There is a problem with SQL connectivity.
If this problem occurs continuously for 2 minutes, a Monitoring error ([host machine|SQL Server] data collection) alert is also raised.

Suggested action:

SQL Monitor will automatically retry the connection every few minutes. Click Show log and refer to the Exception and Exception message columns in the table of data collection events for information about the type of problem.

For more information, see Testing data collection methods.

Unlicensed

Displayed when:

Your evaluation period has expired and the machine, cluster node or SQL Server instance has not yet been licensed.

Suggested action:

Enter a serial number or allocate licenses on the Configuration > Licensing page. One license is required for each host machine or cluster node - this will license all SQL Server instances on the machine or node.

For more information, see Licensing and activating SQL Monitor.

Suspended

Displayed when:

Monitoring on this machine, cluster node or SQL Server instance has been manually suspended. No data will be collected until you resume monitoring.

Suggested action:

Go to the Configuration > Monitored servers page, click the Actions button at the end of the row and select Resume monitoring.

For more information, see Configuring monitored servers.

Maintenance window (Alerting suspended)

Displayed when:

The host machine or node is currently in a maintenance window. SQL Monitor is still monitoring servers, but alerting is temporarily suspended. Once the maintenance window duration has ended, alerting will resume.

Suggested action:

Go to the Configuration > Monitored servers page to check when the current maintenance window is due to end.

For more information, see Setting maintenance windows.

Viewing the connection events log

For some statuses, it is recommended that you check the log for more details. To do this, on the Configuration > Monitored servers page, click Show log for the server or instance experiencing connection problems: