Monitoring Microsot MSMQ
Stockpiling messages can be detrimental to your business. To address this issue, we developed the Nodinite Monitoring Agent, which empowers end-users to receive alerts and manage content effectively, ensuring the system remains healthy.
This agent enables you to monitor MSMQ queues. You can perform checks on the maximum allowed number of messages in the queues, as well as verify the maximum age of the first message on each queue.
This section outlines what is being monitored and explains how Nodinite interprets this information into meaningful monitoring states. Additionally, some remote commands are available as Remote Actions to help you quickly address any problems. For more details on these actions, please refer to the Managing MSMQ page.
Here's an example with a list of Monitored MSMQ Resources in a Nodinite self-service Monitor View.
Monitoring Features
Automatic Discovery - The Nodinite Message Queueing Monitoring Agent automatically detects queues on the configured MSMQ servers. Sharing access to any individual queue is straightforward through Nodinite using one or more role-based Monitor Views.
State Evaluation - Ensure the MSMQ service is operational and that queues are not accumulating an excessive number of messages.
- Age: Receive alerts when message stockpiling may lead to performance issues.
- Count: Get notified when messages in queues are not being processed.
- Quota: Receive alerts before reaching any limits or running out of disk space.
- Journaling: Receive alerts before reaching any limits or running out of disk space.
- Service Status: Get notifications when the MSMQ service is not operational.
Note
If Nodinite cannot check the state of your MSMQ queues and services, it is likely that no one else can use them effectively either.
- Category-Based Monitoring - To help differentiate between various types of MSMQ artifacts, monitored Resources are grouped into categories. The MSMQ-related artifacts are categorized as follows:
- MSMQ: The MSMQ Service itself
- MSMQ Private Queue
- MSMQ Public Queue
- MSMQ System Queue:
Here's an example with a list of diffferent MSMQ related Monitoring Categories.
State evaluation
The Nodinite Message Queueing Monitoring Agent includes a variety of monitoring features related to MSMQ (Microsoft Message Queuing) that utilize either global or specific settings to assess the age and number of messages across different queue types. Each queue has a corresponding Resource with an evaluated state, which you can incorporate into one or more Nodinite Monitor Views as you wish.
For instance, if you have 42 queues, you will have 42 Resources available for use in one or more Monitor Views, each potentially reflecting different evaluated states at any given time.
Live overview with different states summarized in a pie chart
When a queue contains too many messages or messages that are too old, its Resource is evaluated as being in an Error or Warning state, depending on thresholds defined by the user. This state will persist until the error condition is resolved, either by removing messages or adjusting the thresholds.
| State | Status | Description | Actions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unavailable | Resource not available | Evaluation of the 'MSMQ Queue' is not possible either due to network or security-related problems. A specific queue may have been deleted, if this is the case you need to rid the specific configuration (do NOT exclude the resource) | Review prerequisites | |
| Error | Error threshold is breached | Queue has too many or too old messages according to user-defined thresholds | Details Edit thresholds List messages Purge | |
| Warning | Warning threshold is breached | Queue has too many or too old messages according to user-defined thresholds | Details Edit thresholds List messages Purge | |
| OK | Within user-defined thresholds | Queue and service is operational and within user-defined Monitoring thresholds. | Details Edit thresholds List messages |
From within Nodinite, you can reconfigure the state evaluation on Resource level using the Expected State feature.
MSMQ Private Queue
- A Private queue has the 'MSMQ Private Queue' category name.
Here is a list of 'MSMQ Private Queue' Resources as seen in a Nodinite Monitor View. - The Application name is based on the display name from the Configuration. This naming scheme guarantees uniqueness and a queue with the same name on different MSMQ services can be distinguished.
- The Resource name is the name of the queue with the following prefix: '
private$\'.
MSMQ Public Queue
- A Public queue has the 'MSMQ Public Queue' category name.
- The Application name is based on the display name from the Configuration. This naming scheme guarantees uniqueness and a queue with the same name on different MSMQ services can be distinguished
- The Resource name is the name of the queue.
MSMQ System Queue
- A System queue has the 'MSMQ System Queue' category name.
List of resources of category 'MSMQ System Queue' in a Monitor View - The Application name is based on the display name from the Configuration. This naming scheme guarantees uniqueness and a queue with the same name on different MSMQ services can be distinguished.
- The Resource name is the name of the queue.
Note
You cannot Post messages to a system queue.
MSMQ Service
One MSMQ Service is displayed within Nodinite as one Resource. If you have 3 MSMQ Services configured, then you will have 3 Resources available for use in one or more Nodinite Monitor Views.
- All MSMQ Services belong to the 'MSMQ' category.
Here's an example of Monitor View filtered by the 'MSMQ' category. - The Application name is based on the display name from the Configuration.
- The Resource name is always 'MSMQ Service'.
| State | Status | Description | Actions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unavailable | Resource not available | Evaluation of the 'MSMQ Service' is not possible either due to network or security-related problems | Review prerequisites | |
| OK | MSMQ Service is online | No problems exists connecting with the MSMQ service | Details |
From within Nodinite, you can reconfigure the state evaluation on Resource level using the Expected State feature.
Journaling
The Nodinite Message Queueing Monitoring Agent offers monitoring for MSMQ Journals. If the Journal size becomes too large, Nodinite can send alerts to help you avoid running out of disk space. This information can also assist you in adjusting your settings for optimal performance.
Alert history
During root cause analysis or for other purposes, it can be beneficial to understand how frequently issues occur with your MSMQ Queues. If your Nodinite Monitor View allows it, you can search for historical state changes within a specified time frame. This search can be done for all your queues and MSMQ services or individually. For more details, please refer to the generic instructions on how to Add or manage Monitor View page.
| Search | Resource history |
|---|---|
 Search for alert history for all resources in the Monitor View |
 Alert history for the selected queue |
Frequently asked questions
Use the troubleshooting guide to find the FAQ and answers to known problems.