MSSQL on Windows: The agent is suspect. No response within last minutes

Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.CollectionRule.Agent.The_agent_is_suspect._No_response_within_last_minutes_1_5_Rule (Rule)

This behavior occurs because the replication agent is too busy to respond when SQL Server Enterprise Manager polls the replication agent; therefore, SQL Server Enterprise Manager does not know the status of the replication agent and it cannot report whether the replication agent is functioning or not.

Knowledge Base article:

Summary

If the replication agent fails, you receive the following error message:

Message 20536 Severity 10 "Replication: Agent failure."

There are many reasons why the replication agent is busy: There may be a lot of data that is being replicated, or there may be configuration or replication design issues that cause processes to run for a long time.

Note that this rule does not work if SQL Server on Windows instance is monitored agentlessly.

Resolutions

To reduce the frequency of the message, increase the inactivity threshold.

Changing this value does not fix anything. Instead, it changes how frequently the replication agent is polled for its current status. To change the value of the inactivity threshold:

In SQL Server Enterprise Manager, under Replication Monitor, right-click the replication agent folder, and then click "Refresh Rate and Settings."
Set the value to the number of minutes for the Replication Monitor to wait between the polling of the replication agent.

Unless you receive additional error messages that indicate that there is a problem with the replication agent, the "agent is suspect" message is only an informational message. When you receive this message, do not stop the replication agent if there are no additional related errors. If you stop the replication agent, it rolls back the process in which it is engaged, and then you must restart the process; instead, wait for the process to complete.

Overridable Parameters

Name	Description	Default Value
Enabled	Enables or disables the workflow.	Yes
Interval (seconds)	The recurring interval of time in seconds in which to run the workflow.	300
Priority	Defines Alert Priority.	1
Severity	Defines Alert Severity.	2
Synchronization Time	The synchronization time specified by using a 24-hour format. May be omitted.
Timeout (seconds)	Specifies the time the workflow is allowed to run before being closed and marked as failed.	200
Timeout for query execution (seconds)	The workflow will fail and register an event, if the query execution takes longer than the specified period.	60
Timeout for database connection (seconds)	The workflow will fail and register an event, if it cannot access the database during the specified period.	15

Element properties:

Target

Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.DBEngine

Category

EventCollection

Enabled

True

Alert Generate

True

Alert Severity

Error

Alert Priority

Normal

Remotable

True

Alert Message

MSSQL on Windows: The agent is suspect. No response within last minutes

{2}

Comment

Mom2017ID='{C65DF52B-B877-48C3-B546-67D69C494E84}';MOM2017GroupID={467ECC75-C5DA-42BD-955C-A73BBB51AF74}

Member Modules:

ID	Module Type	TypeId	RunAs
_F6DA1507_12AF_11D3_AB21_00A0C98620CE_	DataSource	Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.DataSource.EventCollectionFiltered	Default
GenerateAlert	WriteAction	System.Health.GenerateAlert	Default

Source Code:

<Rule ID="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.CollectionRule.Agent.The_agent_is_suspect._No_response_within_last_minutes_1_5_Rule" Target="SqlDiscW!Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.DBEngine" Enabled="true" ConfirmDelivery="true" Remotable="true" Comment="Mom2017ID='{C65DF52B-B877-48C3-B546-67D69C494E84}';MOM2017GroupID={467ECC75-C5DA-42BD-955C-A73BBB51AF74}">

  <Category>EventCollection</Category>

  <DataSources>

    <DataSource ID="_F6DA1507_12AF_11D3_AB21_00A0C98620CE_" Comment="{F6DA1507-12AF-11D3-AB21-00A0C98620CE}" TypeID="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.DataSource.EventCollectionFiltered">

      <MachineName>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/MachineName$</MachineName>

      <NetbiosComputerName>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/NetbiosComputerName$</NetbiosComputerName>

      <InstanceName>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/InstanceName$</InstanceName>

      <ConnectionString>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/ConnectionString$</ConnectionString>

      <InstanceVersion>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/Version$</InstanceVersion>

      <InstanceEdition>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/Edition$</InstanceEdition>

      <MonitoringType>$Target/Property[Type="SqlDiscW!Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.DBEngine"]/MonitoringType$</MonitoringType>

      <SqlExecTimeoutSeconds>60</SqlExecTimeoutSeconds>

      <SqlTimeoutSeconds>15</SqlTimeoutSeconds>

      <TimeoutSeconds>200</TimeoutSeconds>

      <IntervalSeconds>300</IntervalSeconds>

      <SyncTime/>

      <EventDisplayNumber>20554</EventDisplayNumber>

    </DataSource>

  </DataSources>

  <WriteActions>

    <WriteAction ID="GenerateAlert" TypeID="Health!System.Health.GenerateAlert">

      <Priority>1</Priority>

      <Severity>2</Severity>

      <AlertMessageId>$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.CollectionRule.Agent.The_agent_is_suspect._No_response_within_last_minutes_1_5_Rule.AlertMessage"]$</AlertMessageId>

      <AlertParameters>

        <AlertParameter1>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/MachineName$</AlertParameter1>

        <AlertParameter2>$Target/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/InstanceName$</AlertParameter2>

        <AlertParameter3>Event ID: $Data/Property[@Name='EventID']$. $Data/Property[@Name='Message']$</AlertParameter3>

      </AlertParameters>

      <Suppression>

        <SuppressionValue/>

      </Suppression>

    </WriteAction>

  </WriteActions>

</Rule>