Introduction
PAL v2.0 is an easy to use tool which simplifies the analysis of Microsoft Performance Monitor Logs (.blg | .csv). It generates an HTML report containing graphical charts and alerts of the performance counters using known thresholds.Usage
Execute the PAL icon in your Start Programs menu or run the PAL.ps1 script from a PowerShell.Installation
Tested on Windows 7 and Windows 8, but should work on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012. Not recommended or tested on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 since these operating systems cannot open counter logs captured on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 and later.Run the PAL setup MSI file that ships in the zip file at http://pal.codeplex.com.
Required Products (free and public):
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (already on Windows 7 and Windows 8) (full package - no internet access required) http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/0/e/20e90413-712f-438c-988e-fdaa79a8ac3d/dotnetfx35.exe
- Microsoft Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=130f7986-bf49-4fe5-9ca8-910ae6ea442c&DisplayLang=en
- PowerShell v2.0 (Windows Management Framework (Windows PowerShell 2.0, WinRM 2.0, and BITS 4.0)) (already on Windows 7 and Windows 8)http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968929
Warning: The PAL installer (MSI) will set the PowerShell execution policy to unrestricted. This will allow the execution of PowerShell scripts.
Globalization Known Issue: PAL has only been tested using an English-US locale. If you have problems using PAL v2.x, then try again using an English-US locale. This is an open source and voluntary project, so any assistance with globalization and localization is appreciated.
Big thank you to the Microsoft Premier Field Engineering (PFE) organization for the great support and feedback!
v2.7 beta
- Complete rewrite of PAL.ps1: The analysis engine of the tool was completely rewritten with threading as a major feature.
- Errors in HTML output: Error messages are now presented in both the HTML output and in the console. It was difficult to identify errors when running batch jobs.
- Added more progress bars: I added an overall progress bar and a few child progress bars.
- SystemOverview threshold file update: Updated the text and simplified some of the thresholds.
- QuickSystemOverview threshold file: Added Avg. Disk sec/Transfer.
v2.5 beta 1
- Another multi-threaded bug: Please be aware that this beta version has a few bugs that I am actively working on. Please set it to run with a single (1) thread of execution or continue using PAL 2.4. I will be releasing another beta of 2.5 within the next few weeks. Sorry for the inconvenience.
- Generating HTML progress bar: Added a progress bar for generating the HTML report which can take a long time.
- Tool parameters: Added the script parameters, NumberOfThreads, IsLowPriority, and DisplayReport to the Tool Parameters section of the HTML report.
- Incomplete analyses: During processing of a counter log, the tool shows analyses which fail. Now, the list is included in the HTML report in the "Incomplete Analyses" section.
- New threashold file: Microsoft Lync 2010 added by Matthew Wade (mawade@microsoft.com). Thank you, Matthew!
- New threashold files: Microsoft Dynamics CRM threashold files added by Stephane Dorrekens (stephane.dorrekens@realdolmen.com). Thank you, Stephane!
- No more 32-bit version: It's clear that the PAL tool often requires more than 2 GB of virtual address space, so I am only offering a 64-bit version from now on.
- Thead processor ratio: The PAL Wizard now automatically sets the number of threads to the same number of logical processors and make all of the threads LOW priority, so that the system is mostly uneffected by the 100% CPU usage.
- Thread time out feature: In order to further prevent thread hangs, I added a thread time out of 15 minutes which can be adjusted by the $global:THREADTIMEOUTIN_MINUTES variable.
- Date Time range UI bug fixed: Fixed a bug where the date time restriction does not show on queued jobs after the first.
- Multi-threaded hang condition: When using more than one thread for analysis, the tool might hang. I completely rewrote the multi-threading handler. This has been fixed... again!
- MS Chart Control Change: Carl Knox provided code where PAL.ps1 will look for the MS Chart Control assembly name instead of the direct file system path. This might help with .NET Framework 4.5.
- SQL Server threshold files updated: David Pless updated the SQL Server threshold files and SQL Server 2012. Thank you, David!
- DataManager removed from templates: When a data collector Perfmon template is exported from a PAL threshold file, it included DataManager settings that restricted the size of the output directory resulting in data loss of existing data at that location. DataManager setting have been removed from the exported templates.
- Threshold file update: QuickSystemOverview.xml. Change the System Cache Resident Bytes threshold to be greater than 10% of physical memory. Change % Network Utilization to 30% Warning and 50% Critical.