SCOM Custom Data against a managed entity

Question

Is it possible to extend SCOM to store custom fields against a monitored/managed entity? For instance, we would like to add some additional data about each managed entity, mostly text and internal information. I didn't know if this was possible. We're going down the route of writing a custom web application to do this, but it seems like this should be possible within the tool itself. I tried searching online for this specific feature, but I kept getting links to custom alert fields, etc.

Answer 1

Yes, you can extend SCOM with custom classes that define your own attributes.

Take a look at this TechNet article on custom attributes - that should be what you're looking for.

That article includes this important guidance:

When you create a new attribute in the Operations console, a new class is created for each custom attribute that you create. Even if you create multiple attributes on the same class, a new class will be created for each one. Too many classes can result in excessive overhead. If you create more than a few custom attributes for a class, you should use another tool such as the System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Authoring Console that will allow you to create a single class with multiple attributes.

So if you want to create many new attributes - or want more flexibility such as using scripts to populate the attributes - then you should look at the options for advanced management pack authoring.

There's an overview of the authoring tools available in this TechNet article.