SQL Server Agent Service

Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Monitor.Agent.ServiceStatus (UnitMonitor)

This monitor checks the status of the SQL Agent service for this instance of SQL Server.
Note that SQL Server Agent Windows Service is not supported by any edition of SQL Server Express.

Knowledge Base article:

Summary

This monitor checks the status of the SQL Agent service and generates an alert when the service is set to start automatically and is not running.

Note that an alert is not generated when the service is disabled – the healthy state will be shown.

Causes

A service can stop for many reasons, including:

The service was stopped by an administrator.
The service was prevented from starting because the user account could not be authenticated.
The service encountered an exception that stopped the service.
The service was improperly configured, which prevented it from starting.
Another service (e.g. SQL Server) that this service is dependent on was stopped

Resolutions

You can attempt to restart the Windows service for the SQL agent

Overridable Parameters

Name	Description	Default Value
Alert Priority	Defines Alert Priority.	Normal
Alert Severity	Defines Alert Severity.	MatchMonitorHealth
Alert only if service startup type is automatic	This may only be set to 'true' or 'false'. If set to 'false', then alerts will be triggered no matter what the startup type is set to. Default is 'true'.	Yes
Enabled	Enables or disables the workflow.	Yes
Generates Alerts	Defines whether the workflow generates an Alert.	Yes
Interval (seconds)	The recurring interval of time in seconds in which to run the workflow.	600
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.	300
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.Agent

Parent Monitor

System.Health.AvailabilityState

Category

AvailabilityHealth

Enabled

True

Alert Generate

True

Alert Severity

MatchMonitorHealth

Alert Priority

Normal

Alert Auto Resolve

True

Monitor Type

Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.MonitorType.SqlServiceStatus

Remotable

True

Accessibility

Public

Alert Message

MSSQL on Windows: SQL Server Agent Windows Service Stopped

The Windows service for the SQL Server Agent for SQL Server Instance {1} has stopped on computer {0}

RunAs

Default

Source Code:

<UnitMonitor ID="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Monitor.Agent.ServiceStatus" Accessibility="Public" Enabled="true" Target="SqlDiscW!Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Agent" ParentMonitorID="Health!System.Health.AvailabilityState" Remotable="true" Priority="Normal" TypeID="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.MonitorType.SqlServiceStatus" ConfirmDelivery="false">

  <Category>AvailabilityHealth</Category>

  <AlertSettings AlertMessage="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Monitor.Agent.ServiceStatus.AlertMessage">

    <AlertOnState>Error</AlertOnState>

    <AutoResolve>true</AutoResolve>

    <AlertPriority>Normal</AlertPriority>

    <AlertSeverity>MatchMonitorHealth</AlertSeverity>

    <AlertParameters>

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

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

    </AlertParameters>

  </AlertSettings>

  <OperationalStates>

    <OperationalState ID="Success" MonitorTypeStateID="Running" HealthState="Success"/>

    <OperationalState ID="Warning" MonitorTypeStateID="UnableToDetectStatus" HealthState="Warning"/>

    <OperationalState ID="Error" MonitorTypeStateID="NotRunning" HealthState="Error"/>

  </OperationalStates>

  <Configuration>

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    <ServiceType>Agent</ServiceType>

    <CheckStartupType>true</CheckStartupType>

    <SqlTimeoutSeconds>15</SqlTimeoutSeconds>

    <TimeoutSeconds>300</TimeoutSeconds>

    <IntervalSeconds>600</IntervalSeconds>

    <SyncTime/>

  </Configuration>

</UnitMonitor>