Configure Windows agents

In System Center – Operations Manager, when you install an agent on a computer, a Microsoft Monitoring Agent application is added to the Control Panel. You can use the application to change the account that the agent will use when performing actions requested by the management server to remove a management group from an agent configuration and to configure the Active Directory integration setting for the agent. To perform these tasks, you must have local Administrator permissions on the computer.

Use the following procedure to make an Operations Manager agent a member of multiple management groups, also referred to as multi-homing. For example, an agent can be configured to report Active Directory data to the Directory Services Management Group and Exchange data to the Messaging Management Group. An agent can be a member of up to four management groups.

You don't need to use the same deployment method for all the management groups.

Do one of the following:

• On the agent-managed computer, in the Control Panel, double-click Microsoft Monitoring Agent. In Microsoft Monitoring Agent, on the Operations Manager tab, select Add, enter the information for the new management group, and then select OK.

• Run the Discovery Wizard from the Operations Manager Operations console that is connected to the new management group, select the desired computers, and deploy the agent to them. For more information, see Install agent on Windows using the Discovery Wizard. (The menu item in the Operations console named Discovery Wizard opens the Computer and Device Management wizard.)

• Run the MOMAgent.msi Windows installer package on the desired computers, and modify the installation by adding a new management group. For more information, see Install Windows Agent Manually Using MOMAgent.msi.

You can use the following procedure to change the account that the agent will use when performing actions requested by the management server.

1. On the agent-managed computer, in the Control Panel, double-click Microsoft Monitoring Agent.
2. On the Operations Manager tab, select a management group and select Edit.
3. In the Agent Action Account section, edit the account information and select OK.

You can use the following procedure to remove a management group from the agent configuration.

1. On the agent-managed computer, in the Control Panel, double-click Microsoft Monitoring Agent.
2. On the Operations Manager tab, select a management group, and then select Remove.
3. Select OK.

You can use the following procedure to change the Active Directory integration setting for an agent.

1. On the agent-managed computer, in the Control Panel, double-click Microsoft Monitoring Agent.
2. On the Operations Manager tab, clear or select Automatically update management group assignments from AD DS. If you select this option, on agent startup, the agent will query Active Directory for a list of management groups to which it has been assigned. Those management groups, if any, will be added to the list. If you clear this option, all management groups assigned to the agent in Active Directory will be removed from the list.
3. Select OK.

• To deploy the Windows agent from the Operations console using the Discovery Wizard, review Install Agent on Windows Using the Discovery Wizard.

• If you would like to manually install the Windows agent from the command line or automate the deployment using a script or other automation solution, review Install Windows Agent Manually Using MOMAgent.msi.

• To understand what options and steps need to be performed to properly uninstall the agent from your Windows computers, review Uninstall Agent from Windows-based Computers.