Best Practice: Knowledge Articles should contain the required sections

 

What does this best practice check for?

MP elements have associated product knowledge that end-users use to decide how to address problems that occur in their environment. For some MP elements, it is considered a best practice for them to have knowledge articles so that the management pack presents added value to the end-user. The elements for which knowledge articles are considered high-priority are:

·          Management pack (should have Summary)

·          Unit monitors (should have Summary, Causes, Resolutions)

·          Discoveries (should have Summary)

·          Alerting Rules (should have Summary, Causes, Resolutions)

·          Non-alerting rules (should have Summary)

Why is it important to follow this best practice? What is the impact of not following this best practice?

Without knowledge articles, the end-user does not have access to the necessary knowledge to address how to resolve problems that occur in their environment. Without knowledge, they cannot act on these problems. This creates significant customer dissatisfaction.

How do I fix this in my MP?

Using the Authoring Console:

1.        For any MP element, click on Properties. Click on the Product Knowledge tab, and click Edit… to add knowledge.

 

Using XML:

     < UnitMonitor ID = " Microsoft.Windows.Server.2008.LogicalDisk.AvailabilityHealth" Accessibility = " Public" Enabled =" onEssentialMonitoring" Target =" Server2008!Microsoft.Windows.Server.2008.LogicalDisk" ParentMonitorID =" SystemHealth!System.Health.AvailabilityState" Remotable =" true" Priority =" Normal" TypeID =" Microsoft.Windows.Server.2008.LogicalDisk.Monitortype" ConfirmDelivery =" false" >

…

     </ UnitMonitor >

 

…

 

       < KnowledgeArticle ElementID = " Microsoft.Windows.Server.2008.LogicalDisk.AvailabilityHealth" Visible =" true" >

         < MamlContent >

            < maml:section >

              < maml:title > Summary </ maml:title >

             < maml:para > The logical disk volume is not available. The data stored on the volume is inaccessible. </ maml:para >

           </ maml:section >

           < maml:section >

               < maml:title > Causes </ maml:title >

             < maml:para > A logical disk may become inaccessible due to a number of reasons some of which include: </ maml:para >

             < maml:list >

               < maml:listItem >

                 < maml:para > Related physical disk has been removed </ maml:para >

               </ maml:listItem >

               < maml:listItem >

                 < maml:para > Physical disk has become corrupt (for example; bad sectors) or inoperable </ maml:para >

               </ maml:listItem >

               < maml:listItem >

                 < maml:para > Problem with physical disk driver </ maml:para >

               </ maml:listItem >

             </ maml:list >

             < maml:para />

           </ maml:section >

           < maml:section >

              < maml:title > Resolutions </ maml:title >

             < maml:para > Check the status of your hardware for any failures (for example, a disk, controller, cabling failure). In most cases, the system log contains additional events from the lower-level storage drivers that indicate the cause of the failure. </ maml:para >

             < maml:para > After you have isolated and resolved the hardware problem: </ maml:para >

             < maml:para > 1.  Open the Disk Management snap-in. </ maml:para >

              < maml:para > 2.  Rescan the disks and then reactivate any disks with errors. </ maml:para >

             < maml:para > Resynchronize or regenerate the volume as necessary if the disk was a member of a mirrored or RAID-5 volume. </ maml:para >

             < maml:para > 3.  Run chkdsk on any reactivated volumes. </ maml:para >

             < maml:para />

           </ maml:section >

         </ MamlContent >

       </ KnowledgeArticle >