A Quick Tour of SQL Agent Insight’s Main User Interface

This post showcases the main user interface for SQL Agent Insight, explaining all of the options available to you.
Should you have any questions after reading this article, feel free to reach out via the Contact page.

Let’s begin. When you first start SQL Agent Insight, you will be presented with the “About” dialog. Below are images of each of the tabs.

the General tab outlines basic copyright information, and gives kudos to the websites and software that has helped in the making of SQL Agent Insight.
the License Information tab details the current active SQL Agent Insight license. Of particular note, the Expiry Date shows you how much time you have left to use SQL Agent Insight.
the File Versions tab outlines all of the libraries that were used in the making of SQL Agent Insight.
the End User License Agreement tab, important information that outlines your usage of the product.
When you are ready to use SQL Agent Insight, and when you agree with the terms in the EULA, click on “I accept the terms…” (1) and then click on “OK” (2).
As soon as you accept the EULA, and click OK, SQL Agent Insight gets to work. You will notice in the status bar, in the bottom left, the “Enumerating all (visible) supported versions…” message. SQL Agent Insight is enumerating all instances of SQL Server that it can “see” on the local network segment.
Once the enumeration is complete, if anything is found, the SQL instances will be visible in the “Available SQL Servers” pane on the left (1). Furthermore, by moving your mouse over the instance name, the tooltip will show the build number for the SQL instance in question (2).
Also of note on the left-hand side are two additional panes. The “Connected SQL Servers” pane (1), and the “Recently Connected Servers” pane (2).

The Connected SQL Servers pane will show all SQL instances that you are currently connected to and their monitored status.
The Recently Connected Servers pane will populate with SQL instances that you have successfully connected to in the past for quick and easy future connections.

Over on the right-hand side of the main window, there exists the “Quick Access Panel” (1).

As more windows are opened within SQL Agent Insight, they will show up in the Quick Access Panel, allowing for single-click focus of the desired window.

To give your Insights more screen real estate, toggle the collapse/expand buttons to hide/show respectively, the Available SQL Servers (1), the Quick Access Panel (2) and the Main Toolbar (3).
An example of the entire SQL Agent Insight working area with all panes collapsed.
The Main Toolbar consists of the most common actions within SQL Agent Insight:

(1) New Insight – allows the connection to and monitoring of a SQL Server Agent.
(2) Enumerate – will force a rescan of the network and refresh the “Available SQL Servers” pane.
(3) Dashboard – will display the Dashboard and Alarms window.
(4) Alarms – will also display the Dashboard and Alarms window, however, this icon will appear red in color for any new Alarms.
(5) Preferences – opens a window to configure preferences for SQL Agent Insight, including email notifications.
and (6) Exit – will close SQL Agent Insight, but will first confirm *if any SQL instances are actively being monitored.
the File menu consists of the following options:

New Insight… – allows the connection to and monitoring of a SQL Server Agent.
Exit – will close SQL Agent Insight, but will first confirm *if any SQL instances are actively being monitored.
the Options menu consists of the following choices:

View – change how SQL Agent Insight appears.
Enumerate SQL Servers – rescans the network for SQL instances and updates the Available SQL Servers pane.
Preferences… – opens a window to configure preferences for SQL Agent Insight, including email notifications.
the Options > View menu has the following choices:

Toggle Server Panel – will expand/collapse the left-hand side panel.
Toggle Quick Access Panel – will expand/collapse the right-hand side panel.
Dashboard – will display the Dashboard and Alarms window.
the Options > Enumerate SQL Servers menu has the following choices:

SQL 2012 – scan for only instances of version 2012.
SQL 2014 – scan for only instances of version 2014.
SQL 2016 – scan for only instances of version 2016.
SQL 2017 – scan for only instances of version 2017.
SQL 2019 – scan for only instances of version 2019.
All Supported Versions – will scan for all supported versions of SQL Server on the local network segment. This is the default when SQL Agent Insight begins operation.
the Window menu allows the following options:

Minimize all Windows except Insights – if you are finding the document interface cluttered with windows, this will minimize them all, and still have them accessible via the Quick Access Panel.
Close all Windows except Insights – a good way to clean up all open windows that appear in the Quick Access Panel (except Insights).
Toggle Minimal View on all Insights – reduces all Insights to a view whereby only the metric summaries are shown.
Toggle Normal View on all Insights – reverts back from the minimal view, showing all metrics and log tabs.
and finally, the Help menu choices are as follows:

Check for Updates… – makes a request out to the Brentec website and checks to see if there is a newer version of SQL Agent Insight to download.
About SQL Agent Insight – displays the About dialog as shown earlier in this document.
Brentec I.T. Solutions Website – opens your default browser to this Brentec website.
Follow @Brentec on Twitter – opens your default browser to my Twitter page.
Support Development – Consider a Donation – open your default browser to the donation page on the Brentec website.