Documentation forServer & Application Monitor
Monitoring your applications and environment is a key capability of Hybrid Cloud Observability and is also available in a standalone module, Server & Application Monitor (SAM). Hybrid Cloud Observability and SAM are built on the self-hosted SolarWinds Platform.

Troubleshoot Exchange performance counters in SAM

Occasionally, you may encounter an Exchange server that is missing some of the expected performance counters. If this happens, verify if the counters are disabled or completely missing. The simplest way to do this is through the registry.

  1. Navigate to the service with the missing performance counters.

    Individual services are listed under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services.

  2. Expand the service and click on the Performance key. The important values are listed below.

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<ServiceName>\Performance]

    Example: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ESE\Performance]

    "Close"="ClosePerformanceData"
"Collect"="CollectPerformanceData"
"Library"="<Path to performance counter DLL file>"

    Example: "Library"="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft\\Exchange Server\\V15\bin\\perf\\%PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%\\eseperf.dll"

    "Open"="OpenPerformanceData"
"PerfIniFile"="<Name of performance counter INI file>"

    Example: "PerfIniFile"="eseperf.ini"

    The "Library" file path is typically "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\%ExchangeVersion%\Bin\perf\%Processor_Architecture%\%DLLFileName%"

  3. Verify the counters are not disabled by expanding the service and then clicking on the Performance key.

  4. Check for the value Disable Performance Counters If this value exists, ensure the data value is 0. Any other value disables the counters.

  5. After confirming the value is set to 0, close all PerfMon windows and then reopen them.

    The performance counters should be visible at this time. If the performance counters are not visible, proceed to the next step.

  6. If the values First Counter, First Help, Last Counter, and Last Help are listed, it is highly recommended to unload the performance counters prior to reloading them.

Unload Performance Counters

  1. Close all PerfMon windows and stop any services which may be using these counters.
  2. Open the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) in the Run as Administrator context.
  3. Type: Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Setup and then press Enter.
  4. Type: Remove-PerfCounters -DefinitionFileName "<Path to counter definition XML file> and then press Enter.

    The default location for Exchange counter definition files is: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\%ExchangeVersion%\Setup\perf\%XMLFileName%

Reload Performance Counters

  1. Close all PerfMon windows and stop any services which may be using these counters.
  2. Open the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) in the Run as Administrator context.
  3. Type: Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Setup and then press Enter.
  4. Type: New-PerfCounters -DefinitionFileName "<Path to counter definition XML file> and then press Enter.

    The default location for Exchange counter definition files is: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\%ExchangeVersion%\Setup\perf\%XMLFileName%

  5. Check the application log to verify the counters loaded properly without PerfLib errors. Reopen PerfMon to ensure the counters are available.