Foglight® for SQL Server 5.9.3.20
Developed and tested for Foglight Management Server 5.7.5.x or higher
Release Notes
December 2018
Welcome to Foglight for SQL Server
Resolved issues and enhancements
Getting started with Foglight for SQL Server
Foglight® for SQL Server allows DBAs to quickly and efficiently identify performance deviations, determine their root cause, perform comprehensive analyses, and resolve performance bottlenecks. The product provides web-enabled dashboards for centralized visibility, management and health checks for the SQL Server® instances deployed in your environment, as well as proactive alerting and alarm workflows for tracking your responses to critical performance anomalies.
Foglight for SQL Server is an n-tier application, which leverages a web-based user interface to ensure having complete visibility into the SQL Server infrastructure wherever an Internet connection is available.
These Release Notes cover the resolved issues, known issues, workarounds and other important information about 5.9.3.20 release of Foglight for SQL Server. Review all sections before starting installation.
Version 5.9.3.20 contains the following new features and updates:
The following is a list of issues addressed and enhancements implemented in this release.
Defect ID |
Resolved Issue |
PIFOG-233 |
Fixed an issue when some SSAS PI metrics displays N/A when monitoring SQL Server 2016 and 2017. |
PIFOG-195 |
SQL PI Monitoring error message updated to include support of SUSE 12,13 and 14. |
PIFOG-144 |
PI Blocking History object name uses an owner name instead of schema name. |
PIFOG-96 |
PostgresSQL cannot restart properly on Linux. |
SSFOG-1015 |
Fixed an issue when creating an Infrastructure Agent automatically may fail after fail-over occurs on a Windows-based SQL Server cluster. |
SSFOG-1008 |
Fixed an issue when data is missing in the SQL Server "Time Breakdown" report. |
SSFOG-981 |
Fixed an ASP issue when the "OS Platform" is changed from "Windows" to "Linux" incorrectly after testing the connection on Connection Details page. |
SSFOG-975 |
Fixed an issue when data is missing in the PI comparison report when the instance is created with used-defined name. |
SSFOG-973 |
Fixed an issue when SQL PI comparison report still displays a property name as "Windows version" even though the SQL Server instance is a Linux-based one. |
SSFOG-967 | Fixed a missing validation issue when configuring values of "Offline/Online/Real-Time" frequency. |
SSFOG-966 | Fixed the Calendar in the Time Zonar is *NOT* available issue within the Databases dashboard by replacing more frequently used time ranges. |
SSFOG-961 | Fixed a host column issue in Database Global View. |
SSFOG-960 | Fixed the exception " java.text.ParseException" error when executing script "upgradeRulesVerification.groovy". |
SSFOG-958 | Severity status of the group database table is displayed improperly. |
SSFOG-939 | Fixed an issue when "Disk Latency" popup chart displays no data when "DBSS_Logical_Disks.lastUpdated" is not updated for more than 1 hour. |
SSFOG-915 | Fixed an issue when deadlock event does not report when SQL Server may not send the null event(column id 65526 with content 0xFAFF) after the whole deadlock transfer is completed. |
SSFOG-879 | Fixed a "Numeric Overflow" error found in the agent log during "DBSS_Sessions" collections. |
SSFOG-865 | Fixed an issue where data might be missing in the Mirroring dashboard when the mirroring database is in a PRINCIPAL role. |
SSFOG-839 | Disabled the "DBSS - Hours Since Last Log Backup" alarm in the simple database. |
SSFOG-778 | Fixed the incorrect link path of "Current Time" and "Alarm Time" in the Alarm Diagnostic dialog of "DBSS Unavailable" alarm. |
SSFOG-768 | Fixed the temp table name that starts with "#Dell" in Missing_Indexes collection. |
SSFOG-651 | Fixed an "In_Memory_XTP" error message found in the Agent log. |
SSFOG-546 |
Fixed a broken "Realtime" link in VMware dashboard. |
The following is a list of issues addressed and enhancements implemented in 5.9.3.10 release.
Defect ID |
Resolved Issue |
PIFOG-100 |
Failed to retrieve data from SQL PI repository due to invalid JDBC connection returned. |
PIFOG-95 |
Presentation API connection pool should be reset if Infobright has been restarted. |
PIFOG-93 |
Workload is missing because DBO_SPI_Instance_Statistics collection hangs when getting JDBC connection |
PIFOG-92 |
Scheduled Infobright restarts unexpectedly due to resource negotiation. |
PIFOG-90 |
SQL Server Analysis Services agent cannot capture DAX commands ran in the SSAS database. |
PIFOG-83 |
In PI Instance View > SQL Statement, there is no SQL text displayed when clicking View SQL Text for a single SQL statement. |
SSFOG-930 |
When OS credential is set to the Windows Authentication type, it fails to create the DB agent and host agent concurrently through CLI. |
SSFOG-866 |
Disk Latency and Slowest Disk data are missing from the Overview dashboard in SQL Server Cluster instance when "Cluster Virtual host" is not monitored by the Infrastructure agent. |
SSFOG-824 |
TempDB Used Size is using "Count" as its unit of measurement. |
SSFOG-698 |
Unable to create agent to monitor SQL Server with TLS v1.2 enforced. |
The following is a list of issues known to exist at the time of this release.
Defect ID |
Known Issue |
FOGDG-858 | DB instance is still synchronized and displayed in FMS federation master even though it is stopped for some reason and not displayed in the FMS federation child. |
SSFOG-1031 | When SQL Server cluster on Linux does fail-over, IC agent may not be auto created when the host name of the node is different with previous node. |
SSFOG-956 | Creating Infrastructure agent automatically after failover occurs on Linux-based SQL Server cluster may fail. |
SSFOG-949 |
If you select either of DB_SQL_Server, DB_SQL_Server_UI, DB_Global_View_UI, SPIRepository* cartridges then click Reset on the Cartridge Inventory dashboard, the upgrade wizard will prompt again. Workaround: Do the following: 1. Navigate to the Administration > Rules & Notifications > Manage Registry Variables dashboard. 2. Search for "DBSS_Is_Fglams_Required_Upgrade". 3. Change its value to "-1". |
SSFOG-943 |
Using CLI to create multiple SQL Server instances with OS monitoring might result in failure to activate some host agents. Workaround: Either activate those host agents manually on the Agent Status dashboard or re-create those host agents. |
SSFOG-844 |
When using IP address to create a SQL server agent, Disk metric and Host metric will be missing in the Global view. |
SSFOG-770 |
Alarm is not triggered while the error has been collected on the "DBSS - SQL Server Error Log" page. |
SSFOG-775 |
If AD authentication has been used to monitor SQL Server instance, the default option 'Log in to the host using the same account used for monitoring SQL Server' cannot be used to monitor Linux Operating System (OS). Workaround: Switch to use the option 'Log in to the host using different login credentials', then choose either of the following Linux authentication types: input AD account info, input other Linux account info, or use 'Select from stored credentials...'. |
SSFOG-739 |
Logical Disk metrics of SUSE showing on the SQL Server Overview dashboard is different from its value showing in the Infrastructure dashboard. |
SSFOG-736 |
DBSS_Error_Log_List collection fails if SQL Server 2017 Agent is not running on Linux. |
SSFOG-645 |
It fails to run DBSSSQLAgentErrorLogProcessor processor of DBSS_SQL_Agent_Error_Log collection if the SQL Server Agent Service is not started. Workaround: Start the SQL Server Agent Service. |
SSFOG-551 |
Due to the metric collection interval, value of Data files, log files, and disk space metrics will be occasionally missing on the Databases > Temdb dashboard. Workaround: Wait for 3 minutes, then you will see these metrics on the dashboard. |
SSFOG-456 | If two SQL Server instances running in different hosts
but these two hosts have the same short name,
these two hosts shows same on the Home page. Workaround: Contact Quest support to get the scripts for updating the loadGVData function. |
SSDB-16097 |
In case the privilege of OS monitoring is not set to the Local
Administrator group on the host being monitored, see the Knowledge Article 215054
available at |
SSDB-15192 |
SQL BI - Reporting services, integration services and Analysis services are not supported on cluster configuration. |
SSDB-14323 |
The SQL Server Error log collection requires you to use WinShell. Follow the instructions below to configure the correct settings: |
SSDB-13479 |
In environments configured to use Agent Manager in High Availability mode the chosen Agent Manager hosting the SQL PI repository will host watchdog and maintenance agents that cannot participate in the Agent Manager high availability utility. |
SSDB-13199 |
Selecting a batch text in the lock tree may navigate to a non-equal batch in the TSQL Batches dimension. |
SSDB-9277 |
In SQL Server® 2012, when a database is part of an availability group and is currently accessible for connections, when the application intent is set to read only, several collections will fail. |
SSDB-9138 |
Cluster data can be collected only if the xp_cmdshell parameter is configured. To configure this parameter,
run the following commands: |
SSDB-8987, SSDB-7326 |
On Microsoft® Windows® 2008 R2, a SQL Server version 2012 instance with a name that contains inverted commas (''; (for example:'X641_ENT1') can encounter issues with the retrieval of WMI data. This is by design on the part of Microsoft. Workaround: If WMI data is not retrieved, the instance name without the '' should be added in the field Service Name in the Agent Properties dashboard. |
SSDB-8949 |
When editing the properties of the Foglight Agent Manager concentrator (Dashboards > Administration > Agents > Agent Status), the name of the Foglight Agent Managers should be entered in the Downstream FglAMs section exactly as they appear in the topology, under Home > Agents > All agents > <Agent name> > RMI data > Fglam host property. |
SSDB-5542 |
Creating a user-defined collection with more than one SQL in it will not alert the user, however, only the first SQL in the collection will be executed. |
SSDB-5248 |
Editing a user-defined collection results in periodic overlap of data. |
SSDB-3061 |
Changes made in the Global Administrations > Alarms screen are saved when switching to another global administration screen, even if selecting "Yes" in the dialog box that asks whether to exit without saving changes. |
SSDB-3039 |
The DBSS- Deadlock Details alarm is disabled by default. |
SSDB-2455 |
User-defined collection names and fields must be entered in Latin characters (A to Z), without any special symbols. |
SSDB-2379 |
When working with Global View while the screen resolution is set to 1024 by 768 pixels, it is advisable to switch to the browser's full view (F11 toggles between full and normal views in all browsers). |
SSDB-2060 |
On SQL Server 2008, deadlocks on two different databases of the same instance become one chained deadlock. Workaround: Implement trace flag -T1234 |
ODB-2984 |
In the Global Administration > User-defined Collections screen, it is possible to create two collections that bear the same name with a different capitalization (for example: MyCollection and Mycollection); however, the more recently created collection will not appear in the topology, nor will it be displayed on the User-defined Collections panel. |
ODB-2829 |
When running user-defined collections on dynamic tables, deleted items are still kept in the topology. As a result, the number of rows displayed on the user-defined collections table will exceed the configured value for maximum allowed rows. |
ODB-1606 |
Performing an upgrade process on a large environment (more than 50 agents) takes time to complete. |
n/a |
Need to wait for more than ten minutes between the upgrade of the Foglight Management Server and Foglight for SQL Server. |
n/a |
In environments configured to monitor SSAS agent only, when upgrading to version 5.9.2.1 or later, the upgrade process will fail. Workaround: In the Administration > Agents > Agent Status dashboard, click Deploy Agent Package, then follow on-screen instructions to deploy the SSAS package manually. |
n/a |
On mixed Windows and Linux environments, SQL PI stops monitoring after upgrading the Foglight database cartridge to 5.7.5.30 and higher. Workaround: Perform the procedure described in the Knowledge Article 212566. If you are upgrading from 5.7.5.30 (and higher) to version 5.9.2.1 or later, redo this procedure. |
n/a |
Monitoring Analysis services is supported only on Agent Managers running on Windows which must have a version of .NET 3.5 installed. |
n/a |
If the WMI exception "Format specifier '%s' " is entered in agent log the following workaround is recommended: Workaround: For Windows® Vista® and Windows Server 2008: According to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929851, the default dynamic port range for TCP/IP has changed in both versions. The new default start port is 49152 and end port is 65535. Subsequently, monitoring instances that run under these operation systems can be carried out by using either of the following options:
For Windows versions prior to Windows 2008/Vista:
For more information, see the Knowledge Article 114559 available at https://support.quest.com/kb/114559. |
n/a |
In cases when Foglight or the Agent Manager are installed on a VM the following need to be reserved:
|
Defect ID |
Known Issue |
SSDB-11283 |
Execution plan may not be resolved |
SSDB-11582 |
Sometimes, query_hash is changed by SQL Server and generating a plan using the Generate button fails. SQLhash isn't found in XML so the screen displays No operation was found and the execution plan changes are missing. |
SSDB-11657 |
Time range changes are not effecting the execution plan dashboard. |
n/a |
In the Execution Plan comparison popup, the date of the selected plan is the insert time to the SQL PI repository and not the execution time. |
n/a |
In the Execution Plan Comparison popup for statement - the estimated plan appears only as the selected plan on the left side. It cannot be selected from the list. |
The following is a list of third party issues known to exist at the time of this release.
Defect ID |
Known Issue |
FOGDG-650 |
The Foglight Agent Manager (FglAM) failed to restart when upgrading DB Cartridge, which is due to "Could not obtain a deployment lock" error. Workaround: Perform the procedure described in the Knowledge Article 266110. |
n/a |
Anti-Virus Protection tools installed on Windows® may negatively
impact CPU and system performance of machines running Foglight the Agent
Manager and the SQL PI repository.
|
n/a |
WMI-related issue Problem: WMI support is affected by the firewall Workaround: For Windows versions prior to Windows 2008/Vista, use the following steps:
For Windows Vista® and Windows Server 2008: According to Microsoft® http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929851, the default dynamic port range for TCP/IP has changed in these versions. The new default start port is 49152 and end port is 65535. Subsequently, monitoring instances that run under these operation systems can be carried out by using either of the following options:
|
n/a |
As a result of the change introduced in Java 6 update 29 to how data is sent to databases, users may experience connection failures when using the Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server® to connect to SQL Server. This interoperability enhancement is available in the following SQL Server versions:
|
n/a |
Third Party Limitations Monitoring an SQL Server instance that resides on a Windows 2008R2 or higher requires a workaround as follows:
|
n/a |
Some base values are not updated when using the Win32_PerfRawData_PerfDisk_LogicalDisk WMI class to calculate performance data in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008, because this class does not contain the PercentDiskTime_Base metric. Workaround: A hotfix is available on Microsoft site, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961435/en-us. |
n/a |
Due to a known Microsoft issue (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3036328), on SQL Server instances version 2014 the SQL text presented may be truncated. |
n/a |
The Windows System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection tool may negatively impact CPU and system performance of machines running Foglight and the Agent Manager. To reduce resource consumption it is highly recommended that you exclude the following directories from being scanned by the tool:
|
n/a |
SQL's and execution plans may not be collected on SQL Server 2014 as a result of a Microsoft bug "The values of column query_hash and query_plan_hash are NULL for DMV sys.dm_exec_requests in SQL Server 2014" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2953592 |
n/a |
The Foglight Time Bar Chart click event does not work with Chrome version 40.x.x.x and 39.x.x.x. https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=428308 |
Workaround for all missing WMI metric cases
In some cases, running the command: %windir%\system32\wbem\wmiadap.exe /f in Windows' command-line (CMD) may solve the problem of missing WMI classes. This command parses all the performance libraries on the system and refreshes the Performance Counter Classes. For further details, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394528%28VS.85%29.aspx
A direct upgrade to Foglight For SQL Server 5.9.3.20 is only available from version 5.7.5.x. Customers that are running 5.7.x of the product must first upgrade to version 5.7.5.x and then upgrade to version 5.9.3.20. A direct upgrade to Foglight for SQL Server 5.7.x is only available from version 5.5.8 or later. Customers that are running earlier versions of the product must first upgrade to version 5.5.8 and then upgrade to version 5.7.x.
For example, if your Foglight for SQL Server is version 5.5.8 and you are going to upgrade to version 5.9.3.20, the upgrade path will be 5.5.8 > 5.7.x > 5.7.5.x > 5.9.3.20.
Foglight for SQL Server 5.9.3.20 requires:
To upgrade Foglight for SQL Server:
Once you have upgraded the cartridge, to deploy the agent package, navigate to the Global View dashboard and follow the upgrade wizard instructions. For a procedure describing how to deploy the agent package, see the Foglight for Databases Deployment Guide.
Note: Foglight for SQL Server does not support the upgrade method of placing the new version in the folder <foglight_home>/upgrade/cartridge/.
Important: If you are upgrading to the current version of Foglight for SQL Server in a Federation architecture, the upgrade should be applied first to the Federated Children and then to the Federation Master. If the Federation Master is upgraded first, it will display incorrect information regarding the number of instances being monitored in the Status Summary section.
The following Foglight product versions and platforms are compatible with this release.
Product Name |
Product Version |
Platform |
Foglight Management Server |
5.7.5.x 5.9.1 5.9.2 5.9.3 5.9.4 |
All platforms supported by these versions of the Foglight Management Server |
Foglight Agent Manager Note: The monitoring agents
available in this version of Foglight for SQL Server support the
Agent Manager HA failover mode, except for the Agent Manager
monitoring SQL PI agents. For more information about this mode, see
the Agent Manager Guide. |
5.8.5.x 5.9.1 5.9.2 5.9.3 5.9.4 |
All platforms supported by these versions of the Foglight Agent Manager |
Before installing Foglight for SQL Server, ensure that your system meets the hardware and software requirements detailed in Foglight System Requirements and Platform Support Guide. Customers running large deployments (more than 50 instances) should consult the Foglight for Databases Deployment Guide.
Foglight for SQL Server supports monitoring the following platforms:
Notes:
Support for Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 8, 9, and 10 has been discontinued in this Foglight release.
Microsoft ended the support for these browsers on January 12, 2016. For more information, visit https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle?p1=13418.
This section provides a list of references which address the most commonly faced issues relating to remote connectivity, allowing for easy troubleshooting using the vendor's information knowledgebase:
Foglight includes a licensing capability that restricts access to those features that are defined in the license. Any Management Server installation requires a license that grants access to server-specific parts of the browser interface and the features associated with them. Foglight cartridges are also license-protected. While some cartridges are covered by the base Foglight license (such as Foglight Agent Manager cartridges and the Foglight for Infrastructure), others may require an additional license.
Foglight for SQL Server is covered by the base Foglight license that allows cartridges to be installed. The SQL Performance Investigator extension requires a dedicated license.
To activate a trial or a purchased commercial license:
The Foglight for SQL Server 5.9.3.20 release package contains the following:
For installation pre-requisites, permissions, information necessary to determine your environment’s hardware requirements, and for installation instructions, see the Foglight for Databases Deployment Guide.
Additional information is available from the following:
This section contains information about installing and operating this product in non-English configurations, such as those needed by customers outside of North America. This section does not replace the materials about supported platforms and configurations found elsewhere in the product documentation.
This release is Unicode-enabled and supports any character set. In this release, all product components should be configured to use the same or compatible character encodings and should be installed to use the same locale and regional options. This release is targeted to support operations in the following regions: North America, Western Europe and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Far-East Asia, Japan.
This release has the following known capabilities or limitations: The server will be enabled for Global Operation, but not localized to any particular locale.
We are on a quest to make your information technology work harder for you. That is why we build community-driven software solutions that help you spend less time on IT administration and more time on business innovation. We help you modernize your data center, get you to the cloud quicker and provide the expertise, security and accessibility you need to grow your data-driven business. Combined with Quest’s invitation to the global community to be a part of its innovation, and our firm commitment to ensuring customer satisfaction, we continue to deliver solutions that have a real impact on our customers today and leave a legacy we are proud of. We are challenging the status quo by transforming into a new software company. And as your partner, we work tirelessly to make sure your information technology is designed for you and by you. This is our mission, and we are in this together. Welcome to a new Quest. You are invited to Join the Innovation™.
Our logo reflects our story: innovation, community and support. An important part of this story begins with the letter Q. It is a perfect circle, representing our commitment to technological precision and strength. The space in the Q itself symbolizes our need to add the missing piece — you — to the community, to the new Quest.
For sales or other inquiries, visit https://www.quest.com/company/contact-us.aspx/.
Technical support is available to Quest customers with a valid maintenance contract and customers who have trial versions. You can access the Quest Support Portal at https://support.quest.com.
The Support Portal provides self-help tools you can use to solve problems quickly and independently, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Support Portal enables you to:
Quest, the Quest logo, Foglight, and Join the Innovation are trademarks and registered trademarks of Quest Software Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries. For a complete list of Quest Software trademarks, please visit our website at www.quest.com/legal. Red Hat, JBoss, the JBoss logo, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. CentOS is a trademark of Red Hat, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Fedora and the Infinity design logo are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. Microsoft, .NET, Active Directory, Internet Explorer, Hyper-V, Office 365, SharePoint, Silverlight,SQL Server, Visual Basic, Windows, Windows Vista and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. AIX, IBM, PowerPC, PowerVM, and WebSphere are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Java, Oracle, Oracle Solaris, PeopleSoft, Siebel, Sun, WebLogic, and ZFS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing the SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Oracle Corporation. OpenLDAP is a registered trademark of the OpenLDAP Foundation. HP is a registered trademark that belongs to HewlettPackard Development Company, L.P. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. MySQL is a registered trademark of MySQL AB in the United States, the European Union and other countries. Novell and eDirectory are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc., in the United States and other countries. VMware, ESX, ESXi, vSphere, vCenter, vMotion, and vCloud Director are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. Sybase is a registered trademark of Sybase, Inc. The X Window System and UNIX are registered trademarks of The Open Group. Mozilla and Firefox are registered trademarks of the Mozilla Foundation. IOS is a registered trademark or trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. Apple, iPad, iPhone, Mac OS, Safari, Swift, and Xcode are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Ubuntu is a registered trademark of Canonical Ltd. Symantec and Veritas are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. OpenSUSE, SUSE, and YAST are registered trademarks of SUSE LCC in the United States and other countries. Citrix, AppFlow, NetScaler, XenApp, and XenDesktop are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. PostgreSQL is a registered trademark of the PostgreSQL Global Development Group. MariaDB is a trademark or registered trademark of MariaDB Corporation Ab in the European Union and United States of America and/or other countries. Intel, Itanium, Pentium, and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Debian is a registered trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc. OpenStack is a trademark of the OpenStack Foundation. Amazon Web Services, the "Powered by Amazon Web Services" logo, and "Amazon RDS" are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Infobright, Infobright Community Edition and Infobright Enterprise Edition are trademarks of Infobright Inc. POLYCOM®, RealPresence® Collaboration Server, and RMX® are registered trademarks of Polycom, Inc. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.