2Pint BITS/BranchCache Reporting (Standalone Version) 3€¦ · know your way around them, feel free to fiddle away to your heart’s content. Make new ones, tweak the existing ones,

2Pint BITS/BranchCache Reporting (Standalone Version) 3.0

2Pint Software 3/6/16

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2PINT BITS/BRANCHCACHE REPORTING (STANDALONE VERSION) 3.0

2PINT SOFTWARE

2PintS o f t w a r e

Table of Contents New in V3.0 ............................................................................................................................................ 2

Which version of Reporter should I use? ............................................................................................. 2

BITS\BranchCache Reporter Overview ........................................................................................................ 3

How It Works .............................................................................................................................................. 3

Client Component .................................................................................................................................. 3

Server Components ............................................................................................................................... 3

The Reports ............................................................................................................................................ 4

Getting Started ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Files ............................................................................................................................................................ 4

BC Reporting Engine ............................................................................................................................. 4

BC Reporting Web Service Installer ..................................................................................................... 4

The MS SQL Server DB .......................................................................................................................... 4

Manual Installation (Server-side Web Service) ....................................................................................... 5

Client Component Install ........................................................................................................................... 8

Verifying the Install.................................................................................................................................... 8

Customizing the StifleRulez.xml .......................................................................................................... 9

Client Logging ...................................................................................................................................... 10

Reporter Client Command Line Tool ...................................................................................................... 11

Analyzing the BITS Event Log ............................................................................................................ 11

Installing the SSRS Reports ................................................................................................................... 12

BITSBCReporter DataSource .............................................................................................................. 12

Installing the Reports .......................................................................................................................... 13

Viewing the Reports .................................................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

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New in V3.0 This is a major update, as we have now implemented a ‘standalone’ version of the Reporter – which consists of a separate SQL Database and Web Service, and does not required Microsoft Configuration Manager. The principle is the same; BITS events from the Windows Event Log are reported to a 2Pint Web Service and stored in the SQL database. SSRS is still used for the reporting element. The reports however are different to the SCCM reports, and ALL BITS downloads will be reported – not just ConfigMgr.

Also new in V3.0 are some cool tweaks to the Reporter Client. You can now perform some real-time reporting on the client system using the Reporter client .exe, and you can also report a summary of BITS downloads into WMI for reporting via SCCM inventory (or other systems management tools)

Other minor tweaks

New options for:

Location Reporting – now reports IP/MAC/Geo Location data by default (if possible). Can be en/disabled via registry setting at install time.

Report Size Limit – Used to ensure that you are not sending up tons of download reports for tiny files. Default (i.e minimum job size to report is 32k)

Which version of Reporter should I use? The SCCM version of Reporter does, of course only work with MS ConfigMgr 2012 (and above, including CB).

The standalone Reporter is aimed at installations where SCCM is not used, or where BITS is used for other content download outside of ConfigMgr. There is no reason why you can’t install the Reporter in standalone mode in an SCCM site. It will still report back SCCM downloads, but we do not report certain parameters such as Package/Application ID etc so you would not be able to report on individual SCCM deployments. Up to you!

To make things simple for you – we’ve created two sets of documentation and install folders. This document covers the installation and usage of the Standalone Reporter. Happy BranchCache-ing and reporting

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BITS\BranchCache Reporter Overview

The purpose of the 2Pint BranchCache reports are to give an indication of the performance of BITS content downloads via BranchCache operating in distributed mode on a single subnet. In a multiple subnet site, results may vary but the reports can still give an indication of performance.

These reports are ideal for gaining visibility of BITS and BranchCache performance while testing or designing a BranchCache implementation, either with or without SCCM. They can also be used to spot any weakness or problems in an existing implementation.

The Reports also help to calculate the impact on a network connection to a site by working out the number of megabytes which are copied by client systems from the content source as opposed to those which are obtained from peer clients via BranchCache. In an ideal scenario, only a single instance of a content should be downloaded from the distribution point.

Along with the SSRS reports, we now provide a few command line options for the BC Reporter client which can help with testing BITS and BranchCache. These include optional switches to display ‘real-time’ feedback during a BITS download, displaying progress and the BranchCache success rate of each segment of the download. This greatly enhances the visibility of data within a download. You can also place summary BITS data into WMI for inventory purposes.

How It Works

Client Component The 2Pint BITS/BranchCache Reporter (standalone) is based on three components. The client component analyses events from the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) event log, and returns relevant events to a 2Pint Web Service so that they can be queried and reported on using the 2Pint Reporter SQL Database.

This component consists of a single executable which is triggered by certain Event Log events, so it’s not an agent as such. Once installed, it will only activate and report on relevant events. It will always exit when the BITS queue is empty.

NB:

The client component generates messages, so caution should be exercised when deploying the reporting solution in an environment where there are many installations of, as each content download generates two upload messages per client computer. Please test extensively before using in a production environment. Duh right?

Server Components The major difference with this standalone version is the server components.

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The Reporter Web Service: This is used as the front-end consumer of BITS events which are reported by the Reporter client. Events are consumed and then inserted into the Reporter SQL database by this service.

Microsoft SQL server: SQL 2012 or above is also required, along with the SQL Server Reporting Services component. If you wish to edit the reports, or to create new ones, you should also install SQL Report Builder 3.0. The SQL database is small – consisting of just 3 tables, and some queries and views. If you are installing the Reporter in standalone mode in an SCCM site, the Reporter database will co-exist quite happily alongside the SCCM SQL database. It requires no interaction with SCCM at all.

The Reports There are several reports, each of which give a slightly different view of the reported data. The reports should be installed on the SSRS Report Server. They are simple to install, and once you get to know your way around them, feel free to fiddle away to your heart’s content. Make new ones, tweak the existing ones, the sky’s the limit!

Getting Started Files The Reporting kit is presented as a single zip file. Once unzipped, you will have 2 sub-folders:

BC Reporting Engine Contains the client installer script - 2PS-BITSReporter-Installer.ps1

Sub folders for x64/x86 executables – each containing:

BITSBCReporter.exe, StifleRulez.xml

BC Reporting Web Service Installer A single .msi installer.

BC Reporting SSRS Reports Import-2PSReports.ps1 (a PowerShell script to install the Reports into SSRS)

Several .rdl files (the reports themselves) At time of writing there are six.

Note: These files are installed alongside the Reporter Web Service in their own folder

For Example: \Program Files\2Pint Software\ BITS and BranchCache Reporting\Reports

The MS SQL Server DB You need an installation of SQL to host the BITS and BranchCache Reporter Database. This can be SQL Express with Advanced Services (which is free) or full blown SQL Standard or Enterprise – up to you.! The main thing is that you also have an instance of SSRS installed also.

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So, first thing you need to do is to get the Web Service up and running as follows.

Manual Installation (Server-side Web Service)

Start the installation by executing the correct .MSI installer (x64 for x64 systems). The following Welcome dialog will appear: -

After you click the Next button the license agreement page appears, click to agree the terms and conditions after you read through and agree to all the statements.

Next, configure the account under which you would like the BITS/BC Reporter Web Service to run, either LocalSystem (recommended), or using a specific domain account. Note that this account must have the ‘Logon as a Service’ right if it’s a domain (or local user) account

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Next, you can choose a port over which the BITS/BC Reporter Web Service will communicate with client computers. The default is 8052 but you can change that here. Click the ‘Test Port’ button to test, and then click Next.

Next, select the SQL database server that will host the BITS/BC Reporter Database. If you are running BITS/BC Reporter Web Service on the local server, you can select (local). Otherwise, enter the server name and SQL instance. Click next to continue.

The installer should then connect to that server and fill out the default Reporter Database name for you. Check this, and if it’s OK, click next to continue. Otherwise enter a different name.

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In this screen you can configure the account that will be used to create the BITS/BC Reporter Database. We recommend that you use the same account that you specified for the service, but you can choose a separate account if you wish. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.. You are required to test the connection to verify that it has the correct rights before you can continue.

Tell the installer where you want to install the BITS/BC Reporter service, and click next.

We’re now ready to unleash the Reporter magic, so go ahead and click on Install, sit back and enjoy a cup of tea.

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Client Component Install The standalone client install consists of:

2 X Scheduled Tasks – these trigger the BC Reporter executable when certain events (BITS download start (3) and download end (4)) are generated in the BITS Windows Event Log.

Files: - BCBITSreporter.exe, Stilferulez.xml – which need to be copied to the \Windows\System32 folder - or some other folder in the system path if you prefer.

The client components can be installed via our handy PowerShell script (recommended), or by manual installation (roll your own method).

The PowerShell script configures the Scheduled Task - Event Log triggers required to send back the relevant messages to the BC Reporter Web Service, and copies the correct files from the source folders depending on the platform of the system (x64/86)

The 2PS_Installer.ps1 script should be run from the command line. The various setup options are described below.

The install source folder needs to contain the installer - 2PS-BITSReporter-Installer.ps1 and files - BITSBCReporter.exe/ Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.Messaging.dll /stiflerulez.xml (x64 and x86 versions) as the installer script will select the correct file versions to install. Simply copy the BC Reporting Engine folder and subfolders – this will be your install source. The x86 and x64 folders must exist as the installer references them during the install.

Command Line Options for standalone install:

Example: 2PS-BITSReporter-Installer.ps1 -Mode Register -RunMode 1 -WCFURI "http://defaultserver:8052"

-Mode - Register/Unregister

-Runmode - 1 Required, and must be set to 1 for standalone installation.

-WCFURI - "http://servername:xxxx - where the servername is the location of the BITS BranchCache reporting Web Service, and xxxx the port number that was set during the Web Service install.

*** IF RUNMODE IS SET TO STANDALONE (1) YOU MUST SET THE WCFURI PARAMETER ***

Verifying the Install Once the script has run, you can verify the install as follows:

Check that the reporter files have been placed in the \Windows\System32 folder

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Check that two scheduled tasks were created in the 2Pint Software Scheduled Tasks Folder

Take a peek in the registry – you should see the following values:

The values can be used as follows:

DebugLogging: On or off – enables verbose logging – useful for testing

DisableUnknownReporting – If set to ‘1’ – Unknown BITS jobs are not reported.

LogMaxSize – yeah. Max log size in bytes

MaxRunTime – will kil the reporter after this timer expires

Mode – 1 = Standalone 0 = SCCM

OnlySendEndReport – if set to ‘1’ , does just that

ReportSizeLimit – Minimum content size that will be reported – so that small files do not clog up the reports

SendGeoData/SendIPData – 1= on 0 = off. By default we report these values, IP address, location etc.

WCFURI – this is the URL to the BITS/BC Reporter Web Service server with port number.

Customizing the StifleRulez.xml The StifleRulez.xml file is used by the BITSBCReporter.exe to define content downloads. In the file we have defines common types of BITS download such as Windows Update etc but you can add your own custom type to the file using the following method.

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Open up the StifleRulez.xml file in your favourite editor. Notepad will do.

You will see that the file has two sections, DownLoadType and TypeData. Pretty simple right?

The DownloadType section assigns a number to each download type, which corresponds to the same number in the TypeData section.

So first you need to define your new Download Type and assign it a number. The TypeData section then allows you to define a simple query for the Reporter client agent to apply to the BITS event log.

For instance, <Type TypeID="7" Match="Contains">Microsoft Outlook Offline Address Book</Type> instructs the Reporter Client to search for the string “Microsoft Outlook Offline Address Book” in each event.

The enclosed StifleRulez file included with the installation files can be used as a template to create your own rules. It’s quite easy really!

Client Logging On the client side of things, the BITSBCReporter executable generates logfiles, and we just love logs don’t we? It generates one for each execution (download start or download end), but will tidy up after itself every 7 days so that you’re not left with tons of the little blighters lying around. The logs can be found in Windows\Temp\Logs (or in Windows\CCM\Logs with all the other SCCM client logs in a ConfigMge install). The logs will be named 2PSBITSBC_Reporter_<processID> as you can see below.

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Reporter Client Command Line Tool Once installed, the BC Reporter client executable (BITSBCReporter.exe) will report on BITS downloads, and send results back to the Reporter Web Service. There are other command line options however, that can be used on a client system to monitor and analyze BITS downloads and BranchCache activity.

Analyzing the BITS Event Log Realtime Output The ‘/realtime’ switch is used to monitor BITS download jobs in – yes – you guessed it, realtime. To launch the BC Reporter client in this mode, use the following command line:

BITSBCReporter.exe /Realtime <BITS Job GUID| Name> [ResultFilename.csv]

Note that you can use either Job GUID or Name

Where: BITS Job GUID should contain 32 digits with 4 dashes (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx)

Name – should be the BITS Job Name

Resultfilename.csv (optional) – should contain the path to a .csv output file should you wish to record the results in this format.

Here’s an example of the output:

Summary Output This can be useful as it provides a snapshot of past BITS downloads, and the BranchCache efficiency thereof. To launch the BC Reporter client in this mode, use the following command line:

BITSBCReporter.exe /analyze /probe

Where: the /analyze switch is mandatory, and the /probe switch is optional. The /probe switch will place the results (below) into the local WMI repository, where they could be collected by an inventory program (such as SCCM) for further analysis.

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Installing the SSRS Reports The reports require an installation of Microsoft SSRS.

BITSBCReporter DataSource It is necessary to create a Data Source in order for the reports to connect to the correct Database and tables etc within the reports. To do this follow the steps below.

To create a shared data source

Start Report Manager (SSRS Native Mode).

In Report Manager, navigate to the Contents page.

Click New Data Source. The New Data Source page opens.

Type a name for the item. Name it ‘BITSBCReporter’

Optionally type a description to provide users with information about the connection. This description will appear on the Contents page in Report Manager.

In the Data source type list, specify the data processing extension that is used to process data from the data source.

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For Connection string, specify the connection string that the report server uses to connect to the data source. It is recommended that you do not specify credentials in the connection string.

The following example illustrates a connection string for connecting to the local SQL Server BITSBCReporter database:

data source=<SQLservername>; initial catalog=BITSBCReporterDB

For ‘Connect using’, specify how credentials are obtained when the report runs:

If you want to prompt the user for a logon name and password, click Credentials supplied by the user running the report. To use the credentials that the user enters as Windows credentials, click Use as Windows credentials when connecting to the data source. If the user name and password are database credentials, do not select this option.

If you intend to use the data source as a shared data source with saved credentials that are managed by the owner of the data source, or for reports that support subscriptions or other scheduled operations (such as automated report history generation), click Credentials stored securely in the report server. If the database server supports impersonation or delegation, you can select Impersonate the authenticated user after a connection has been made to the data source.

If you want the report server to pass the credentials of the user accessing the report to the server hosting the external data source, click Windows Integrated Security. In this case, the user is not prompted to type a user name or password.

Installing the Reports Once the Data Source is created in the step above, import the SSRS Reports using the PowerShell Script that is included with the Reporter Files, named Import-2PSReports.PS1. The only required argument for this is the name of the SSRS Reporting Server where the files are to be imported and the Data Source resides. This script will install the reports to your SSRS Reporting server and will replace the Data Source in the reports with the Data Source that you (hopefully) created earlier.

Example: .\Import-2PSReports.ps1 –ReportServer MYSERVER

Viewing the Reports

Once installed, to use the reports, connect to the SSRS server where you installed them. Navigate to the \2PintSoftware\BITSBCReporter folder and you should see the reports as shown below.

Each report is explained briefly below, but we have designed them to be as intuitive and simple to operate as possible.

This is the main dashboard and provides you with a 6-month summary of all your BITS downloads, and the BranchCache efficiency. The stats are fairly self-explanatory, with each row providing data for a Key Performance Indicator (KPI), and an executive summary at the end of each row.

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The Quick Summary Report, allows you to input the number of hours on which the report data will be based, so if you just want to see the last hour’s activity, input 1 into the dialog and click on the ‘View Report’ button.

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The Downloads VS Speed report gives you a quick overview of the number of downloads by time of day, overlaid with the speed of downloads at that hour. This can be useful in ascertaining patterns of downloads that may adversely affect bandwidth at certain peak business times.

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The Job Sizes and Efficiency Report shows a breakdown of Sharing Efficiency by BITS job type on the left. This helps to highlight any BITS job types that are not utilizing BranchCache. The graph to the right is a simple breakdown of average content size for the same categories of BITS jobs.

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The Incomplete Download Report is just a simple list of all the downloads that have been recorded as ‘Started’ but not ‘Complete’. The reasons for this are many and varied! This report lets you ‘drill down’ into an individual download using the links in the rightmost field. Click there to see the following single

item report.

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So in this instance we can see that the download – although only 0.63Mb in size, has been in progress for over 1500 hours! Probably failed…

Say What? Sometimes within the reports, you may notice that the ‘Sharing Efficiency’ ratio will be higher than 100. So how can the efficiency be OVER 100% I hear you ask? Well sometimes BranchCache will already have content cached locally so that the download is actually smaller than the package or application being deployed. Also, the almighty power of DeDuplication may be at work – so although the content size may be 1000Mb, only 750Mb is copied because duplicate blocks of data are not transferred by BranchCache if DeDupe is enabled on the volume where the content is stored.

Conclusion

We hope that you find the 2Pint BranchCache Reporting useful, and that all your deployments are 100% efficient. Keep checking the website for further updates and new report releases. If you have an idea for a new report, or for improvements to these initial releases, let us know. If you have any questions about BranchCache Reporting, or are running into issues, then jump onto our support forums over at http://2pintsoftware.com/2pint-support-forum/

http://2pintsoftware.com/forums/forum/2pint-support-forum/

Documents

2Pint BITS/BranchCache Reporting (Standalone Version) 3€¦ · know your way around them, feel free to fiddle away to your heart’s content. Make new ones, tweak the existing ones,