Monitoring Microsoft SQL Server

Supported information

Configuring the MS SQL Server sensor

You must install the Instana host agent on the same system in which Microsoft SQL Server is installed. To install the Instana host agent on Windows, see the Installing the host agent on Windows topic. To install the Instana host agent on Linux, see the Installing the host agent on Linux topic.

After the Instana agent is installed, the MS SQL Server sensor is enabled by default. You can choose how the Instana agent connects to the SQL Server as follows:

• SQL Server Authentication: If you provide the username and password (clear-text) in the agent configuration file <instana-agent-dir>/etc/instana/configuration.yaml, the agent connects to the SQL Server by using the SQL Server authentication.

  com.instana.plugin.mssql:
  user: ''
  password: ''
  poll_rate: 1 # seconds
  top_queries_poll_rate: 60 # seconds
  

• Windows Authentication: If you leave the configuration section in the agent configuration file commented out or leave the username and password empty, the agent tries to connect by using Windows Authentication. When the Windows Authentication is used, the agent authenticates with the credentials that it is running under.

• poll_rate: Specify the poll rate. By default, the value is 1 second.

• top_queries_poll_rate: Specify the poll rate for top queries. By default, the value is 60 seconds.

  When the Windows Authentication is used, ensure that your account has appropriate permissions as described in the Required server or database permissions section.

com.instana.plugin.mssql:
  port: 2529    # custom Microsoft SQL TCP port

Metrics collection

To view the metrics, select Infrastructure in the sidebar of the Instana User interface, click a specific monitored host, and then you can see a host dashboard with all the collected metrics and monitored processes.