Manage Instances

Steps required to prepare the instance for monitoring

The Instances page allows you to list, create, edit and delete registered SQL Server instances.

At the top you have buttons to perform several actions:

  • New Agent: Opens a dialog to create a new agent
  • New Instance: Takes you to the page to register a new SQL Server instance. For a detailed description of the registration process, see Register a SQL Server instance
  • Groups: Takes you to a page where you can create, edit, and delete groups. Groups and subgroups help you categorize your SQL Server instances, display them together in the list, and control settings and exceptions for issues.
    Groups are available to all agents (not specific to a single agent).
  • Queries: Takes you to the page to view, create, edit, and delete custom queries. You can assign queries to one or more agents. The QMonitor agent runs your custom queries and uploads the data to the measurement you define in the query. You can then view the data in the Custom Metrics dashboard. Currently, data is displayed as a table. Additional visualizations are coming soon.
  • Export / Import Excel: Use the upload and download buttons to download a list of the instances you have registered in QMonitor. This is useful for sharing with colleagues or using as input for projects.
    The upload button lets you register multiple SQL Server instances at once using an Excel file. This is helpful when you have many instances and don’t want to register them one by one. The import file should use the same columns as the export file. We recommend using the exported Excel file as a template.
  • Download Client: Takes you to the downloads page where you can download the QMonitor client for your platform.
  • Setup Script: Downloads a script that sets up your instances for monitoring. The script creates logins, extended event sessions, and all objects required by QMonitor. It also grants all required permissions. For a complete description of the setup script, see Set up your SQL Server instance
  • Help: Displays a quick guide to help you create an agent, install it, configure instances, and start monitoring.

At the top of the list is a search bar. Use it to filter the instances shown on the page. Enter any keyword to display servers with a matching name, description, tag, or other text field. You can also enter a version number, such as “2022”, to show only servers with that version.

The list of instances is grouped by agent and by groups/subgroups:

Agent Default
├─ Group A
│ ├─ Subgroup X
│ │ ├─ Instance 1
│ ├─ Instance 2
│ ├─ Instance 3
│ ├─ Instance 4
├─ Group B
│ ├─ Subgroup Y
│ │ ├─ Instance 5
│ │ ├─ Instance 6
│ ├─ Instance 7
│ ├─ Instance 8
Agent Custom
├─ Instance 9
├─ Instance 10

Next to each Agent name, you have the following controls:

  • Status icon: Shows the status of the agent (ok, not running, or not installed). Click the status icon or label to open a dialog with more information.
  • Edit button: Opens a dialog to enter a new name for the agent. Not allowed for agents that have already been installed.
  • Queries: Opens a dialog to assign custom queries to an agent. Queries are defined in the Queries page and assigned to individual agents using this dialog.
  • Delete: Deletes the agent. Be careful: Deleting an agent does not delete the service on the machine where it is installed, does not uninstall the agent, and does not remove any files. You must perform these tasks manually. Also, deleting an agent is not reversible, and data collection at the client will stop immediately.

Nested inside the agents, you may have instances directly, or groups and subgroups that contain instances.

The instance name is a hyperlink to the Instance Overview dashboard. Next to the name, you have:

  • A copy button to quickly copy the name to the clipboard
  • The version tag
  • Any tags you added to the instance

If the instance is an Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Database Pool, or Azure SQL Managed Instance, a blue tag will appear.

On the right side of the list, you have the following controls:

  • Status icon: Shows the status of the instance (ok, ready, or not ready). Click the status icon or label to open a dialog with more information.
  • Edit button: Opens the edit instance page where you can edit all instance details: connection string, tags, description, and more.
  • Delete: Deletes the instance. Once deleted, the instance stops collecting data. However, existing data remains visible on dashboards until it expires from retention.