Management packs in Operations Manager 2007 files have two file formats that are accepted as valid. These formats are sealed and unsealed. A sealed management pack is a binary file that cannot be edited. An unsealed management pack is an XML file that can be edited. Sealed management packs should have an .mp extension, while unsealed management packs should have an .xml extension.

In general, management packs obtained from an application or hardware device vendor are sealed. Although you cannot change the settings in the management pack file, you can still customize the applied settings of a management pack after it is imported. In the Operations console, you can use overrides or create additional settings such as rules, monitors, and tasks that supersede the management pack's default settings. All customizations that you create are saved to an unsealed management Ppck file. By default, customizations are saved to the Default Management Pack.

Note
As a best practice, you should create a separate management pack for each sealed management pack you want to customize, rather than saving your customized settings to the Default Management Pack. For more information, see Default Management Pack.

When you create a management pack using the Operations console or the Management Pack Authoring console, it is unsealed by default. To seal a management pack, you need an Operations Manager 2007 Resource Kit tool called MPSeal and a client certificate. For more information about sealing a management pack, see How to Seal a Management Pack.

Effect on Management Pack Dependencies

An unsealed management pack can reference sealed management packs. An unsealed management pack cannot be referenced by any other management pack. For more information about management pack dependencies, see About the Management Packs Node in Operations Manager 2007.

MPSeal Prerequisites

You must obtain a client certificate to seal a management pack. If you are a vendor that is creating a management pack for distribution to customers, you should obtain the certificate from a known certification authority (CA), such as VeriSign. If the management pack is for use only within your own organization, you can create a private certificate using the Strong Name Tool (SN.exe), which is part of the Microsoft .NET Framework.

MPSeal.Exe Syntax

The Operations Manager 2007 Resource Kit tool MPSeal is used to change the format of an Operations Manager 2007 management pack from an XML file to a binary file. MPSeal.exe can be run on a client computer as long as that computer has.NET Framework 2.0 installed. MPSeal is a command-line tool and the following table contains the parameters needed to use this tool.

MPseal.exe Management Pack Filename [/I <Source Directory>] /Keyfile <Keyfile Path> /Company <Company Name> [/Outdir <Output Directory>] [/DelaySign]

Parameter Description

Management Pack Filename

Specifies the name of the XML formatted Operations Manager 2007 management pack that you intend to seal.

/I

Indicates that you want to provide a path to the directory that contains referenced management pack files. This directory must contain all management pack files that are referenced by the management pack that you want to seal. If it is omitted, the current directory is used.

Source Directory

Specifies the path to the folder that contains the management pack files of all referenced management packs. If it is omitted, MPSeal looks in the current directory.

Keyfile Path

Specifies the full path and filename of the .snk certificate file.

Company Name

Specifies the name of the CA from which you obtained a certificate.

Output Directory

Specifies the path to the folder to which you want to save the sealed management pack.

/DelaySign

Specifies that you want to seal the management pack using only a public key instead of private/public key pair. You can run MPSeal.exe again later to seal the management pack using a private/public key pair.

As an example, if you are sealing a management pack file named Microsoft.SQLServer.xml, you could use the following syntax:

MPSeal.exe Microsoft.SQLServer.xml /I c:\mps /Keyfile Microsoft.snk /Company "Microsoft Corporation"

A Microsoft.SQLServer.mp file is created and saved to the current directory.

Note
After a management pack is sealed, you should run the MPVerify tool to ensure that the file is still a valid management pack file.

See Also

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