The ‘SSMS activity monitor paused’ message appears when we try to open Activity Monitor in SQL Server Management Studio.

Here at Bobcares, we have seen several such SQL related issues as part of our Server Management Services for web hosts and online service providers.

Today we’ll take a look at the cause for this error and see how to fix it.

Know more about the ‘SSMS activity monitor paused’ error message.

Activity Monitor displays information about what is going on with SQL Server at any given point-in-time and such activity needs “high-level insight” into the Operating System and SQL Server. Such “high level” permissions are not enabled by default for user accounts.

For instance, the error appears as below.

Different causes and fixes for the error ‘SSMS activity monitor paused’

Now let’s take a look at the different causes and fixes of this error message.

1. The high-level permissions are not enabled while connecting remotely.

Solution:

Here are the steps to enable elevated permissions when logged in remotely. Thus, we need to enable Remote Launch & Remote Activation permissions on the remote Operating System.

1. First, connect to the remote machine using a Remote Desktop.

2. Then open the Component Services (DCOMCNFG) from the start menu

3. Now, in the left-hand tree, under Console Root, expand Component Services, expand Computers, right-click on My Computer and go to Properties

4. Under the Properties window, go to the COM Security tab.

5. Then in the Launch and Activation Permissions section, click on the Edit Limits button.

• Under the Security Limits tab, see if your user/group name exists. In case, if it doesn’t exist then add to the list by clicking on the Add button.
• After you add the user, highlight the user, and make sure it has both Remote Launch & Remote Activation permissions checked.

6. Click on the Edit Limits button in the Access Permissions section.

• Under the Security Limits tab, see if your user/group name exists. In case, if it doesn’t exist then add to the list by clicking on the Add button.
• After you add the user, highlight the user, and make sure it has Remote Access permissions checked.

7. Hit Okay to save changes.

8. Now expand the My Computer in the left-hand tree and go to DCOM Config.

• Here, find the Windows Management and Instrumentation and click on Properties.
• Click on the Security tab and under the Launch and Activation Permissions section, click on the Edit button
• Under the Security tab, see if your user/group name exists. In case, if it doesn’t exist then add to the list by clicking on the Add button.
• After you add the user, highlight the user, and make sure it has both Remote Launch & Remote Activation permissions checked.

9. Finally, save all the changes and then re-open Activity Monitor

2. There is a bug with SSMS 2012 (11.0.3339.0)

Solution:

Make use of any different versions of SSMS.

3. In WMI, the Remote enable is not activated

Solution:

• First, run the wmimgmt.msc on the DB-server
• Then open the properties of WMI-Control (RM-click)
• Now open the Security tab.
• Under the Security tab, select CIMv2 en click the Security button below
• Now, add or locate the account or group
• Finally, in the permissions list, check Remote enable.

4. By default, the permissions are not enabled for user accounts.

Solution:

To solve this, grant the user the “View server state” permission. Here are the steps to do the same:

• First, open the Security and Login folders for the relevant server instance.
• Now right-click a login and choose properties.
• Then choose Securables and you should see all Permissions listed in the bottom pane.
• Finally, put a tick in the grant column next to the View server state.

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Conclusion

In short, this error occurs when we try to open Activity Monitor in SQL Server Management Studio. Today, we saw the solution to this error.