Got questions about MP Author? Check out our FAQs below.
What is MP Author?
MP Author is a management pack development tool that allows users to create and develop new management packs and/or customize existing management packs for System Center Operations Manager 2012R2 or later. Applications can be either single or distributed.
When do I need to use MP Author?
MP Author can be used to create a management pack when there is no pre-existing off-the-shelf management pack for a specific IT application. Or, you can use MP Author to customize a pre-existing management pack, for example, to reduce the number of unnecessary rules and monitors.
What are the software prerequisites to install MP Author?
You must be using System Center Operations Manager 2012R2 or later to use MP Author. It will not work with System Center Operations Manager 2007. Please refer to our MP Author Quick Installation Guide or MP Author User Guide for more information.
Does MP Author work with all Microsoft System Center releases?
MP Author is compatible with System Center 2012R2, System Center 2016, 180x and 2019. Please refer to our MP Author Quick Installation Guide or MP Author User Guide for more information on software prerequisites.
How do I create a new management pack?
To create a new management pack, please refer to the MP Author video tutorials and/or our MP Author User Guide for specific instructions and demonstrations.
How do I edit an existing management pack?
To edit an existing management pack, please refer to the MP Author video tutorials and/or our MP Author User Guide for specific instructions and demonstrations.
How do I get technical support for MP Author?
If you are unable to get the help you need from our MP Author support portal, you can contact us at [email protected], however, we can make no guaranteed response time for your query. If you’d like to talk to us about our MP Author premium support upgrade option, please also contact us at [email protected].
How do I know that my management pack I just created will work within System Center Operations Manager?
Within MP Author, you can easily verify a management pack will work with System Center Operations Manager before importing using the Verify option and / or the Best Practice Analyzer. Please refer to the MP Author video tutorials and/or our MP Author User Guide for specific instructions and a demonstration on how to verify a management pack.
I would like to test my management pack before deploying to System Center Operations Manager, how do I do that?
Unfortunately, you can’t test and tune management packs within MP Author. If you’d like to do so, consider Silect’s MP Studio, which provides a “sandbox” environment to test and tune management packs before deployment to your production environment.
Every time I create a new management pack previous versions are deleted. What’s happening?
When you create a new management pack, you are prompted to choose a folder. You must choose an empty folder. If you choose a folder in which a sealed management pack already exists, the sealed management pack already in the folder will be deleted automatically. Therefore, you cannot keep versions of a management pack within one folder. If you’re interested in version control, or having a central repository of management packs, consider our other product, MP Studio, which helps you manage your management packs throughout their lifecycle.
What is MP Studio?
MP Studio is a software program that allows you to manage your System Center Operations Manager management packs throughout their lifecycle. With MP Studio, you can analyze management pack contents, document changes, test and tune before deployment, control versions and more. MP Studio has all MP Author capabilities plus a lot more. Learn more about MP Studio.