If a dashboard is empty or too green, check source coverage before believing the signal.
Operational instructions
Page and Action Guide
Use this page to know where each signal belongs, what every page can do, which actions write to SQL, what the risk is and how to verify the result after clicking.
Use Forecast when you need days-to-risk, growth trend, log/file pressure and preventive actions.
After any button that changes SQL or app policy, refresh the evidence page and prove the risk moved.
The browser does not send scheduled reports. The web app host must keep the background service running.
Risk model
what the labels mean before clicking
Filters, navigation, scans or evidence review. No intended SQL/app configuration change.
Starts existing jobs or changes app policy. Usually reversible, but can create load or change alert behavior.
Changes target database files, indexes, statistics, constraints, configs, audit/event collection or permissions.
Changes inventory, schema sync, user access or security/licensing foundations. Use admin review.
Daily operating flow
from evidence trust to action
Confirm registered servers and collectors are reachable.
Check missing or stale sources before interpreting green pages.
Choose the highest operational priority and owner route.
Open Forecast, Reports, Database Health, Backup Readiness, Incidents or Server Overview.
Run only the justified action, then prove the signal changed.
Scheduled report delivery
Always On is required for reliable mail
- Scheduled reports are saved in the application database and processed by the web app background service. The browser does not send scheduled mail.
- If the hosting platform stops or idles the web app process, the background service is also stopped. Reports can then be delayed until someone opens the app or the host starts it again.
- For IIS, set the application pool Start Mode to AlwaysRunning, set Idle Time-out to 0, and enable Preload on the site/application.
- For Azure App Service, enable Always On on the App Service configuration page.
- For Windows Service/Kestrel hosting, configure the service Startup type as Automatic and set recovery actions to restart the service on failure.
- After scheduling a report, open Admin / Report Delivery Settings and verify the next run. After the first scheduled time, confirm Last status shows the report was sent.
Action catalogue
what each button can change
| Action | Where | Risk | What it writes | Safe use | Verify after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-grow database/log file | Forecast | High | ALTER DATABASE MODIFY FILE / size growth on target database. | Use when forecast shows near-term fill risk and disk reserve, max-size and autogrowth checks pass. | Forecast reloads; confirm file free percent, volume reserve and queue priority changed. |
| Start SQL Agent job | Dashboard, Forecast | Medium | Starts an existing job on the selected server. | Use for failed or urgent maintenance/log jobs after checking last failure and current workload. | Check msdb job history and related page signal after the job finishes. |
| Index rebuild/reorganize | Reports, Database Health, Workload Lab | High | ALTER INDEX operations; can use CPU, IO, blocking time and transaction log. | Use in a maintenance window or when impact is acceptable and fragmentation evidence is current. | Rerun the report/scan and confirm run/end timestamps and fragmentation changed. |
| Create or drop index | Database Health, Workload Lab | High | Changes physical database design. | Create only for recurring workload and after overlap/write-cost review. Drop only after rare-report and release review. | Compare workload metrics, query plans and missing/unused-index rows after the change. |
| Update statistics | Database Health, Workload Lab | Medium | UPDATE STATISTICS, possibly FULLSCAN. | Use when stale statistics explain bad estimates or regressions. | Rerun health/workload analysis and compare estimates, duration and reads. |
| Validate constraints | Database Health | High | ALTER TABLE WITH CHECK CHECK CONSTRAINT. | Use when the database can tolerate validation load and possible validation failures. | Finding should resolve; if validation fails, fix data before trusting the constraint. |
| Change database option/permission | Database Health | High | ALTER DATABASE or GRANT diagnostic permissions. | Use only when the recommendation matches the operational policy. | Rerun scan and confirm option/permission state. |
| Save alert rules | Alert Rules | Medium | Rewrites dbo.APP_ALERT_RULES in the admin database. | Use when thresholds, owners, channels or suppression are wrong for operations. | Refresh Action Center and confirm classification/routing is correct. |
| Save report schedule | Report Center | Medium | Creates or updates APP_REPORT_SCHEDULES in the application database. | Use only after SMTP and recipient lists are configured. Scheduled delivery requires the web app host to run Always On. | Open Admin / Report Delivery Settings and confirm next run, then check last status after the first scheduled time. |
| Save configs row | Server Configurations | High | Updates target server dbNexia_DB.dbo.configs. | Use after validating config_query and knowing which collector/procedure consumes the value. | Run dependent collector or page and confirm behavior changed. |
| Save audit/event config | AuditEventLogConfig | High | Updates procedure/config, syncs and executes it on selected servers. | Use when log/audit collection should change; consider noise, storage and security coverage. | Check sync result, Reports logs, Incidents, Forecast signal coverage and Data Quality. |
| dbNexia_DB sync apply | dbNexia_DB Sync | Critical | Creates/alters target database objects and procedures. | Preview first, select intended servers, apply during controlled admin window. | Check applied/skipped/failed actions, then Status and Data Quality. |
| Add/delete server | Servers | Critical | Changes registered server inventory and can initialize/update dbNexia_DB. | Use with verified connection, license capacity and correct environment/server type. | Test connection, open Status, Reports and Data Quality for the server. |
| Manage users/passwords/roles | Users | Critical | Changes app identities and authorization. | Use only for approved access changes. | Validate login and role access immediately. |
| Import license | License | Medium | Updates license state used by server registration. | Use a trusted license response file/text for this installation. | License page should show valid state and correct server limit. |
All pages
purpose, actions, data and verification
Operations
Dashboard
Medium
- What it is for
- Estate overview for the selected server: health, jobs, backups, runtime pressure and action signals.
- Actions on the page
- Start selected SQL Agent job from the job failure panel.
- Data used
- SERVERS, SQL Agent history, backup history, event/runtime signals, drive and health telemetry.
- How to verify
- Refresh Dashboard, confirm job history changed and check Action Center if the signal remains.
Operations
Status
Read-only
- What it is for
- Connectivity, collection freshness and repository/source visibility.
- Actions on the page
- No direct server write action. Use it to decide whether data can be trusted.
- Data used
- Registered server metadata, connection checks, collector timestamps and source health.
- How to verify
- A green Status page means the evidence pipeline is usable; it does not prove the databases are healthy.
Operations
Action Center
Read-only
- What it is for
- Prioritized operational queue with severity, score, owner, SLA, rule id and next action.
- Actions on the page
- Navigate to the evidence page named in Source Page. No direct execution here.
- Data used
- Alert Rules plus backup, drive, job, event, deadlock, blocking, long request and telemetry-gap signals.
- How to verify
- After fixing a root cause, refresh Action Center and confirm the item is gone or downgraded.
Operations
Server Overview
Read-only
- What it is for
- Server-level situation view: state, pressure, forecast, evidence and actions to break the trend.
- Actions on the page
- Filter, sort, inspect evidence and jump to deeper pages.
- Data used
- Backups, drives, jobs, runtime events, long requests, health, tempdb, source health and growth trend.
- How to verify
- Use it after a fix to confirm server state, forecast text and action count improved.
Operations
Data Quality
Read-only
- What it is for
- Shows whether pages have enough current evidence to make reliable conclusions.
- Actions on the page
- No direct write action; fix collector, permission or repository gaps outside this page.
- Data used
- Data source availability, row freshness, collector health and repository coverage.
- How to verify
- If a dashboard is empty or too green, this page must be checked first.
Operations
Database Health
High
- What it is for
- Deep database scan for indexes, statistics, constraints, file growth, options and permissions.
- Actions on the page
- Run scan, run individual fixes: create/drop/rebuild/reorganize index, update statistics, validate constraints, set fixed file growth, enable auto stats, disable TRUSTWORTHY, grant diagnostic permissions.
- Data used
- Target database DMVs, sys catalogs, dbNexia_DB index metadata and live database state.
- How to verify
- The page reruns checks after execution. Confirm the selected finding is resolved before running another change.
Operations
Backup Readiness
Read-only
- What it is for
- Backup age, log-chain exposure, recovery model risk and restore-readiness evidence.
- Actions on the page
- No direct backup execution. Use the page to choose which backup job or restore validation must be handled.
- Data used
- msdb backup history, database metadata, recovery model and policy thresholds.
- How to verify
- After backup/job repair, refresh and confirm full, diff and log evidence is inside policy.
Operations
Alert Rules
Medium
- What it is for
- Policy catalogue for what becomes Critical, High or Watch in Action Center and incident views.
- Actions on the page
- Save rule changes, enable/disable rules, edit severity, threshold, owner, notification route, suppression and runbook; reset defaults.
- Data used
- dbo.APP_ALERT_RULES in the admin database plus built-in default policy.
- How to verify
- Refresh Action Center and affected pages to confirm changed thresholds classify signals as intended.
Prediction
Forecast
High
- What it is for
- Forward-looking capacity and pressure prediction for files, logs, volumes, jobs, backups, tempdb, events and audit signals.
- Actions on the page
- Pre-grow database/log files with disk, max-size and autogrowth checks; start linked SQL Agent jobs such as maintenance/log processing; navigate action queue to evidence rows.
- Data used
- Database file history, live sys.master_files, volume telemetry, SQL Agent jobs, backups, event logs, audit logs, deadlocks, blocking, source health and resource pulse.
- How to verify
- The action reloads the page. Confirm the database/file is removed or downgraded in Forecast action queue and file list.
Prediction
Incidents
Read-only
- What it is for
- Groups operational incidents across errors, security signals, blocking, deadlocks and data gaps.
- Actions on the page
- Filter, inspect, correlate and open supporting evidence. No direct execution.
- Data used
- EventLog, AuditLog, SQL errors, deadlocks, blocking, jobs, long requests and source gaps.
- How to verify
- Use after a fix to confirm repeats stop in the selected lookback window.
Prediction
Workload Lab
High
- What it is for
- Workload diagnosis for waits, Query Store regressions, live requests, plan cache, missing indexes and stale statistics.
- Actions on the page
- Analyze workload, copy evidence/SQL, verify rows, and run approved fixes for executable workload rows when admin/moderator access allows it.
- Data used
- Query Store, DMVs, plan cache, missing-index DMVs, statistics properties and dbNexia_DB metadata.
- How to verify
- Use Verify resolved or rerun Analyze workload and compare row score, duration, reads and presence.
Reports
Report Center
Medium
- What it is for
- Build, export and schedule operational reports for mail delivery.
- Actions on the page
- Export report files and save scheduled deliveries that run from the web app background service.
- Data used
- Current report criteria, registered server evidence, recipient lists and report delivery settings.
- How to verify
- After saving a schedule, check Admin / Report Delivery Settings for next run and last status. The host must be Always On for reliable delivery.
Reports
Reports
High
- What it is for
- Raw evidence workspace for logs, audits, backups, jobs, indexes, tables, database sizes and growth charts.
- Actions on the page
- Filter/sort/export-like copy from tables, load growth charts, view index history, and run controlled index rebuild/reorganize where enabled.
- Data used
- Repository reports, EventLog, AuditLog, SQL Agent history, backup history, index fragmentation, table/db size and growth endpoints.
- How to verify
- After index maintenance, check row message, updated run/end timestamps and rerun the report.
Administration
Report Delivery Settings
Medium
- What it is for
- Configure SMTP, recipient lists and inspect scheduled report delivery status.
- Actions on the page
- Save mail settings, send SMTP test mail, manage recipient lists and review schedule next/last run status.
- Data used
- Application report delivery tables, encrypted SMTP password and saved schedules.
- How to verify
- Send a test mail after SMTP changes and confirm scheduled rows show expected next run. Configure Always On on the hosting platform before relying on scheduled delivery.
Administration
Servers
Critical
- What it is for
- Register, test and remove monitored SQL Server instances.
- Actions on the page
- Add server, test connection, initialize or update dbNexia_DB objects, run INIT scripts, save encrypted connection metadata, delete server registration.
- Data used
- dbNexia_ADMIN_DB.dbo.SERVERS, license limits, encrypted credentials and target server preflight.
- How to verify
- Run Test Connection, open Status and confirm collectors and reports populate for the server.
Administration
Server Configurations
High
- What it is for
- Edit per-server configs rows used by dbNexia_DB collectors and checks.
- Actions on the page
- Update a config row; config_query is validated as one read-only boolean condition before saving.
- Data used
- Target server dbNexia_DB.dbo.configs and column descriptions.
- How to verify
- Refresh Server Configurations and run the collector/page that depends on the changed config.
Administration
Audit and Event Log Configuration
High
- What it is for
- Configure which EventLog and AuditLog signals are collected and synchronized.
- Actions on the page
- Save event/audit group selection, update dbo.INIT_AUDITLOG_EVENTLOG, sync to selected servers and execute the procedure.
- Data used
- Audit/event selection model, dbNexia_DB procedures, repository sync result and selected registered servers.
- How to verify
- Review per-server sync result, then confirm Reports, Incidents, Forecast and Data Quality show the expected log/audit coverage.
Administration
dbNexia_DB Sync
Critical
- What it is for
- Compare and synchronize admin dbNexia_DB schema/procedure objects to registered servers.
- Actions on the page
- Preview selected servers, apply selected sync actions, inspect planned/applied/skipped/failed object actions.
- Data used
- Admin source database objects, registered server connections and target dbNexia_DB state.
- How to verify
- Always Preview first, then after Apply check result rows and open Status/Data Quality for affected servers.
Administration
Users
Critical
- What it is for
- Manage application users and access level.
- Actions on the page
- Save user details, set role, reset password, delete user, update profile.
- Data used
- ASP.NET Identity users and roles.
- How to verify
- Confirm the user can sign in with the intended role and cannot access pages outside that role.
Administration
License
Medium
- What it is for
- Show license state, create request file and import a license response.
- Actions on the page
- Download request file, import license text/file.
- Data used
- License service storage and machine/request fingerprint.
- How to verify
- Refresh License and Servers; server count limits should match the imported license.
Reference
Instructions
Read-only
- What it is for
- This guide: pages, data sources, action risks and verification rules.
- Actions on the page
- Read, navigate, and use links to the correct page.
- Data used
- Static guide plus current app route knowledge.
- How to verify
- Use it when unsure which page owns a signal or whether an action writes to SQL.
Reference
Privacy
Read-only
- What it is for
- Static privacy and application information.
- Actions on the page
- No operational action.
- Data used
- Static page content.
- How to verify
- Not used for operational verification.
Data sources
which evidence powers prediction and risk
Runtime errors, login failures, CPU/memory warnings and repeated event pulses.
Security and operational audit patterns. Missing audit data can hide important risk.
Failed, stale or urgent jobs and one-click Start job actions.
Full/diff/log freshness, restore-chain risk and RPO exposure.
Days to fill, disk reserve, autogrowth safety and pre-grow decisions.
Fragmentation, stale stats, missing indexes, unused indexes and maintenance actions.
Waits, blocking, deadlocks, live requests, tempdb, CPU and memory pressure.
Controls severity, threshold, owner, notification route and suppression.
Tells whether a green or empty page is trustworthy or only missing evidence.
Before actionminimum checklist
- Confirm the selected server and database are correct.
- Check Data Quality if the evidence looks empty, stale or too clean.
- Read the risk label and the action text; know whether it writes to SQL, app policy or identity.
- For High/Critical actions, confirm maintenance window, backup/rollback path and expected load.
- Run Preview first when the page has a preview mode, especially dbNexia_DB Sync.
After actionprove it worked
- Refresh the same page and confirm the row disappeared, downgraded or changed to completed.
- Open the evidence owner page named in Action Center or in the action result.
- For SQL Agent actions, check job history and final step status.
- For file growth, check file size, free percent, volume free space and Forecast queue.
- For policy/config changes, refresh Action Center, Data Quality and the page that consumes the policy.
Admin boundaries
who should do what
Use evidence pages, reports, dashboards and instructions. No server, user or SQL write action.
Can run approved operational actions and manage servers/configuration where the UI allows it.
Owns users, licensing, schema sync, audit/event configuration and critical platform changes.