You are on page 1of 712



IBM Systems
IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Version 6.2.1
GC30-4176-06


IBM Systems
IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Version 6.2.1
GC30-4176-06
Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on
page 677.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 1999, 2010.


US Government Users Restricted Rights – Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract
with IBM Corp.
Contents
About this publication . . . . . . . . ix Viewing resources in the topology perspective. . 89
Conventions and terminology . . . . . . . . ix Working with tables . . . . . . . . . . 91
Publications and related information . . . . . . ix Working with topology maps . . . . . . . 99
Web resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii Working with properties. . . . . . . . . 106
How to send your comments . . . . . . . . xiv Setting navigation preferences . . . . . . . 107
Renaming a resource . . . . . . . . . . 109
Terminology changes . . . . . . . . xv Removing a resource . . . . . . . . . . 109
Managing groups . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Chapter 1. Overview of IBM Systems Creating a criteria-based dynamic group . . . 115
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Creating a static group . . . . . . . . . 117
Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Editing a group. . . . . . . . . . . . 118
License information . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Deleting a group . . . . . . . . . . . 119
IBM Systems Director technical overview . . . . .4 Adding a resource to an existing group. . . . 119
IBM Systems Director components . . . . . .5 Exporting a group . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Manageable resource types . . . . . . . .9 Importing a group. . . . . . . . . . . 120
Manageable systems and system types. . . . .9 Finding and starting tasks . . . . . . . . . 121
User interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Launched tasks and the IBM Systems Director
Base function and extensible plug-ins . . . . . 11 Launched Tasks program . . . . . . . . 121
Upward integration. . . . . . . . . . . 19 Finding a task . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
I'm a 5.20 user. How do I use 6.x? . . . . . . . 19 Starting tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Why am I starting at the Welcome page? . . . 20 Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched
What can I do with the rest of the interface? . . 32 Tasks program . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
How do I discover my systems? . . . . . . 34 Using External Application Launch . . . . . 135
How do I view my systems and groups? . . . 37 Using Advanced External Application Launch 151
How do I view my inventory? . . . . . . . 52 Scheduling tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Where are my tasks? . . . . . . . . . . 54 Noninteractive tasks . . . . . . . . . . 152
How do I start tasks? . . . . . . . . . . 55 Jobs and job instances . . . . . . . . . 152
How do I create a hardware event action plan? 55 Scheduling a task . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Scheduling a task from a selected system . . . 154
Chapter 2. Using the IBM Systems Viewing active and scheduled job information 155
Director Web interface . . . . . . . . 59 Viewing information about scheduled jobs . . 156
Logging into IBM Systems Director Server . . . . 59 Determining target systems that are affected by
Logging out of IBM Systems Director Server . . . 60 a job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Enabling multisession support . . . . . . . . 60 Viewing job-instance records . . . . . . . 157
Navigating the Web interface . . . . . . . . 60 Viewing job-instance logs . . . . . . . . 158
The Web interface . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Copying a scheduled job . . . . . . . . 159
Customizing the Web interface . . . . . . . 62 Editing a scheduled job . . . . . . . . . 159
Managing and closing open pages in the Web Running a scheduled job immediately . . . . 160
interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Suspending and resuming a scheduled job . . 160
Viewing help in the Web interface . . . . . . 64 Canceling a running job . . . . . . . . . 160
Navigating IBM Systems Director by way of the Deleting a job . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Welcome page . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Managing auditing . . . . . . . . . . . 161
IBM Systems Director Welcome page . . . . . 64 Audit records . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
System severity states . . . . . . . . . . 72 Setting server-auditing preferences . . . . . 164
Starting work in IBM Systems Director . . . . 72 Viewing the audit log . . . . . . . . . 165
Learning about the product . . . . . . . . 73 Deleting the audit log . . . . . . . . . 165
Checking IBM Systems Director readiness . . . 73 Encrypting interprocess communication . . . . 165
Viewing updates. . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Viewing tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Enabling encryption . . . . . . . . . . 167
Viewing the IBM Systems Director Server Disabling encryption . . . . . . . . . . 167
summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Changing the encryption algorithm . . . . . 167
Finding and navigating resources . . . . . . . 76 Resending the encryption key to systems . . . 168
Resource views . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Creating a new encryption key . . . . . . 168
Finding systems and other resources . . . . . 88

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 iii


Chapter 3. Discovering systems and Deleting configuration templates . . . . . . 216
collecting inventory data . . . . . . 169 Managing configuration plans . . . . . . . . 216
Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Creating configuration plans . . . . . . . 217
Getting started discovery . . . . . . . . 169 Creating a configuration plan from an existing
System discovery . . . . . . . . . . . 170 one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Discovery protocols . . . . . . . . . . 176 Deploying configuration plans. . . . . . . 218
Choosing which discovery to use. . . . . . . 177 Viewing configuration plans . . . . . . . 219
Viewing the discovery manager summary . . . . 179 Viewing deployment history . . . . . . . 219
Renaming discovered systems automatically . . . 181 Editing configuration plans. . . . . . . . 220
Performing getting started discovery . . . . . 182 Exporting a configuration plan . . . . . . 220
Discovering systems with system discovery . . . 183 Importing a configuration plan . . . . . . 221
Performing a system discovery . . . . . . 183 Deleting configuration plans . . . . . . . 221
Discovering systems that use a mirrored image 185
Viewing system discovery results. . . . . . 188 Chapter 5. Monitoring system status
Managing discovery profiles . . . . . . . . 190 and health. . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Creating a discovery profile . . . . . . . 191 System status and health . . . . . . . . . 223
Editing, copying, and deleting discovery profiles 191 Viewing the status manager summary . . . . . 225
Permanently excluding IP addresses from Viewing the performance summary . . . . . . 226
discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Using the Health Summary task to view the status
Collecting and viewing inventory data . . . . . 194 of your environment . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Inventory data and collection profiles . . . . 194 Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Creating an inventory collection profile. . . . 195 Dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Managing inventory collection profiles . . . . 196 Health summary . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Collecting inventory . . . . . . . . . . 197 Using the scoreboard to identify issues . . . . 229
Viewing inventory. . . . . . . . . . . 199 Adding a graphical monitor to the dashboard 232
Exporting inventory data . . . . . . . . 200 Removing a graphical monitor from the
Connecting to IT Registry and Context Menu dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Service databases . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Adding systems to the health summary . . . 233
External connections with IT Registry and Removing a group from the health summary 235
Context Menu Service databases . . . . . . 202 Using Navigate Resources to view the status of a
specific resource . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Chapter 4. Configuring systems . . . 203 Scenarios: Using custom monitor views, thresholds,
Configuration settings . . . . . . . . . . 203 and event automation plans . . . . . . . . 235
Configuration templates . . . . . . . . . . 203 Scenario: Using a custom monitor view in an
Predefined configuration template . . . . . 205 event automation plan to report disk data by
Configuration plans . . . . . . . . . . . 205 using drive letter names . . . . . . . . . 236
The Automatically deploy feature . . . . . 205 Scenario: Using a custom monitor view in an
Predefined configuration plans . . . . . . 206 event automation plan to report cluster drive
Configuration-setting license entitlement . . . . 206 data using drive letter names . . . . . . . 238
Monitoring the deployment of configuration plans Monitors and thresholds. . . . . . . . . . 241
and configuration templates . . . . . . . . 207 Monitor views . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Managing system configuration . . . . . . . 208 AIX Monitors view . . . . . . . . . . 242
Viewing configuration settings . . . . . . 208 All Monitors view . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Editing configuration settings . . . . . . . 208 Column Management Monitors view . . . . 245
Saving configuration settings as configuration Common CIM Monitors view . . . . . . . 245
templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Common Monitors view. . . . . . . . . 247
Saving configuration settings to a configuration SNMP Monitors view . . . . . . . . . 248
plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 VIOS Monitors view . . . . . . . . . . 248
Managing configuration templates . . . . . . 210 Virtualization Monitors view . . . . . . . 251
Creating configuration templates . . . . . . 210 Managing monitors . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Creating a configuration template from an Viewing a monitor . . . . . . . . . . 256
existing one . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Creating a monitor view. . . . . . . . . 257
Viewing configuration templates . . . . . . 212 Editing a monitor view . . . . . . . . . 258
Editing configuration templates . . . . . . 213 Deleting a monitor view. . . . . . . . . 259
Adding configuration templates to a Graphing a monitor . . . . . . . . . . 259
configuration plan . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Managing thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Deploying configuration templates . . . . . 214 Viewing a threshold . . . . . . . . . . 260
Viewing deployed targets . . . . . . . . 215 Creating a threshold . . . . . . . . . . 260
Exporting a configuration template . . . . . 215 Editing a threshold . . . . . . . . . . 261
Importing a configuration template . . . . . 216 Activating a threshold . . . . . . . . . 261
Deactivating a threshold. . . . . . . . . 262

iv IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Deleting a threshold . . . . . . . . . . 262 Creating, editing, or copying an event filter . . 318
Managing status set entries . . . . . . . . . 262 Editing an event filter . . . . . . . . . 321
Viewing a specific status set entry . . . . . 263 Copying an event filter . . . . . . . . . 321
Viewing status set entries for a specific resource 264 Viewing event filter properties . . . . . . 322
Viewing status set entries for a group of Viewing predefined filter criteria . . . . . . 322
resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Deleting an event filter . . . . . . . . . 323
Activating a status set entry . . . . . . . 265 Exporting and importing event automation plans,
Deactivating a status set entry . . . . . . . 265 event filters, and event actions . . . . . . . 323
Deleting a status set entry . . . . . . . . 266 Using command automation . . . . . . . . 324
Managing the event log . . . . . . . . . . 267 Creating or editing a command definition . . . 324
Viewing events . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Running a command definition . . . . . . 325
Deleting an event . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Restricting anonymous command execution . . 326
Changing event log preferences . . . . . . 268
Creating an event filter from an event . . . . 269 Chapter 7. Updating systems . . . . 327
Viewing SNMP device attributes . . . . . . . 269 Planning to update systems . . . . . . . . 328
Managing MIB files . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Supported update tasks . . . . . . . . . 328
Compiling a MIB file . . . . . . . . . . 270 Supported updates and systems . . . . . . 329
Loading MIB files into memory . . . . . . 271 Version considerations for updating IBM
Managing process monitors . . . . . . . . 271 Director and IBM Systems Director . . . . . 331
Viewing process monitors . . . . . . . . 271 Update considerations for specific operating
Creating and configuring a process monitor . . 271 systems and platforms . . . . . . . . . 332
Removing process monitors . . . . . . . 272 Determining the installed IBM Systems Director
Recording resource-monitor statistics . . . . . 272 version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
lsresmonrec . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Starting to monitor and update systems . . . . 339
mkresmonrec . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Configuring update manager . . . . . . . . 341
rmresmonrec . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Getting started with updates . . . . . . . 341
stopresmonrec . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Changing update settings . . . . . . . . 342
Updating IBM Systems Director . . . . . . . 346
Chapter 6. Automating tasks . . . . . 275 Using advanced actions for updating IBM
Events, filters, and actions in event automation Systems Director . . . . . . . . . . . 346
plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Downloading IBM Systems Director updates
Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 without an Internet connection . . . . . . 347
Event filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Acquiring and installing updates . . . . . . . 348
Event actions . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Acquiring and installing updates with the IBM
Monitoring operating-system specific events . . 293 Systems Director Web interface . . . . . . 348
Viewing the automation manager summary . . . 293 Acquiring and installing updates with the
Managing event automation plans . . . . . . 295 installneeded command . . . . . . . . . 375
Copying an event automation plan . . . . . 295 Keeping systems in compliance . . . . . . . 377
Creating an event automation plan . . . . . 295 Compliance policies . . . . . . . . . . 378
Deactivating and activating an event automation Adding updates to a compliance policy . . . 379
plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Changing compliance policies . . . . . . . 379
Deleting an event automation plan . . . . . 306 Identifying systems that are out of compliance 380
Editing an event automation plan . . . . . 306 Resolving compliance issues . . . . . . . 381
Suspending and resuming event automation
plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 Chapter 8. Remotely accessing
Viewing event automation plans associated with systems and resources . . . . . . . 383
a resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Remote access facilities . . . . . . . . . . 383
Viewing event automation plan properties. . . 308
Distributed Command . . . . . . . . . 383
Managing event actions . . . . . . . . . . 308
File management . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Creating an event action. . . . . . . . . 308
Hardware command line . . . . . . . . 384
Editing an event action . . . . . . . . . 309
Launch Web browser . . . . . . . . . . 384
Copying an event action. . . . . . . . . 309
Remote Command Line . . . . . . . . . 384
Testing an event action . . . . . . . . . 310
Remote control tasks . . . . . . . . . . 385
Deleting an event action . . . . . . . . . 310
Remote Xen Console . . . . . . . . . . 386
Saving and not saving an event-action history 311
Serial Console . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
Viewing an event-action history . . . . . . 311
Running remote access functions . . . . . . . 387
Refreshing entries in an event-action history log 313
Using the Distributed Shell . . . . . . . . 387
Deleting entries from an event-action history log 313
Managing files on a remote system . . . . . 390
Viewing event action properties . . . . . . 314
Using the hardware command line . . . . . 390
Event-data-substitution variables . . . . . . 314
Managing event filters . . . . . . . . . . 317

Contents v
Establishing command-line access to a remote Service processors and resource types . . . . 435
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 Viewing the IBM BladeCenter and System x
Launching a Web browser . . . . . . . . 392 management summary . . . . . . . . . . 436
Configuring Microsoft Windows Remote Downloading and activating BladeCenter I/O
Desktop Connection . . . . . . . . . . 393 module plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Establishing Remote Desktop Connection . . . 393 Configuring integrated management modules . . 438
Establishing Virtual Network Computing Integrated management module task support
communications . . . . . . . . . . . 394 and features . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Establishing IBM BladeCenter or RSA Changing the integrated management module
communication . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 IP address by way of the Server resource . . . 440
Launching the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Changing the network port on an integrated
Connection Tool . . . . . . . . . . . 394 management module . . . . . . . . . . 440
Launching a VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor Configuring integrated management module
virtual machine connection . . . . . . . . 395 security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Establishing a remote Xen console session . . . 395 Configuring the Try DHCP setting for integrated
Using the serial console . . . . . . . . . 395 management module . . . . . . . . . . 441
Enabling Secure Sockets Layer after discovery 441
Chapter 9. Managing agents . . . . . 399 Enabling Secure Sockets Layer before discovery 442
Common agent services . . . . . . . . . . 399 Discovering scalable systems that have multiple
Resource manager . . . . . . . . . . . 400 nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Agent manager . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 Discovering a scalable BladeCenter system with
Common agent . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 multiple nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Logging Platform Agent . . . . . . . . . . 402 Discovering a scalable System x system . . . 443
Importing agent packages . . . . . . . . . 408 Changing the password for the Remote Supervisor
Installing agents using the Agent Installation Adapter or management module . . . . . . . 443
Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Managing power state settings on IBM BladeCenter
Restarting agents . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 and System x servers . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Restarting Common Agent . . . . . . . . 412 Power On/Off task support using out-of-band
Restarting Platform Agent . . . . . . . . 413 communication . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Setting the agent manager for IBM Systems Power On/Off task support using Wake on
Director Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 LAN technology on System x . . . . . . . 445
Viewing the agent manager properties . . . . 415 Power On/Off task support by way of the
Adding a new agent manager . . . . . . . 415 operating system on System x and blade servers 445
Setting the active agent manager . . . . . . 417 Changing the power state on System x and IBM
Deleting an agent manager . . . . . . . . 417 BladeCenter hardware . . . . . . . . . 446
Using a remote agent manager with IBM Enabling collection of SNMP-based inventory by
Systems Director . . . . . . . . . . . 418 way of management modules . . . . . . . . 446
Managing the agent manager used by a Using hardware-log information from System x
Common Agent . . . . . . . . . . . 420 service processors and IBM BladeCenter products . 447
Viewing the agent manager configuration . . . . 423 Hardware-log information using out-of-band
Securing Common Agent managed systems . . . 424 and in-band communication . . . . . . . 447
Changing the agent registration password . . . 424 Viewing hardware-log information . . . . . 448
Migrating common agents to a different agent Refreshing hardware-log information . . . . 449
manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426 Clearing the hardware-log information . . . . 449
Binding Platform Agent to specific IP addresses 427 Providing hardware-log information. . . . . 450
Disabling IBM Systems Director agents . . . . . 427 Using locator LED settings on IBM BladeCenter
and System x servers . . . . . . . . . . . 450
Locator LEDs and out-of-band and in-band
Chapter 10. Managing IBM
communication . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
BladeCenter and System x systems. . 429 Identifying hardware with the locator LED . . 451
Supported IBM BladeCenter products . . . . . 429 Solving hardware problems using
Service processor communication. . . . . . . 429 light-path-diagnostic LEDs on IBM BladeCenter
In-band communication requirements . . . . 429 and System x servers . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Out-of-band communication requirements . . . 430 Light-path-diagnostic LED information . . . . 452
Out-of-band communication and the standard Viewing light-path-diagnostics status . . . . 454
TCP Command Mode protocol . . . . . . 432 Viewing detailed light-path-diagnostics
Out-of-band communication and the secure TCP information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
Command Mode protocol . . . . . . . . 433 Changing the resource for viewing
Out-of-band communication and the standard light-path-diagnostics LED information . . . . 455
CIM protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Configuring templates . . . . . . . . . . 455
Out-of-band alert-forwarding strategies. . . . 434

vi IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Password security levels for IBM BladeCenter Discovering and collecting inventory for storage
management modules and System x service devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456 Running Discovery and unlocking storage
Configuring the boot sequence for a blade devices using SMI-S providers. . . . . . . 535
server in an IBM BladeCenter chassis . . . . 458 Running Direct Connection discovery and
Configuring an IBM BladeCenter management unlocking storage devices using SMI-S
module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Configuring network resources for IBM Running System Discovery for multiple SMI-S
BladeCenter blade servers . . . . . . . . 474 providers using multicast and broadcast . . . 537
Configuring SNMP agent community Running System Discovery for SMI-S providers
information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 using a directory agent . . . . . . . . . 538
Configuring the IP address pool for IBM Working with external storage applications . . . 539
BladeCenter systems and System x servers . . 476 Installing and configuring external storage
Configuring System x service processors . . . 477 applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Configuring switch protocol information . . . 488 Launching an external storage management
Configuring switch virtual LAN information 492 application . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Configuring users and passwords for an IBM IBM Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1 . . 545
BladeCenter chassis . . . . . . . . . . 495 Viewing storage devices . . . . . . . . . . 546
Managing network-configuration information 495 Storage Management Summary . . . . . . 546
Managing system-account information . . . . 497 Viewing storage systems using storage groups 548
Setting asset information . . . . . . . . 500 Displaying attached storage for a given system 548
Viewing storage volumes . . . . . . . . 549
Chapter 11. Managing IBM Power Viewing the health and status of storage devices 549
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 Storage topology perspective . . . . . . . 550
Managing storage in real-time . . . . . . . . 551
New terms for Power Systems users in IBM
Creating storage system pools . . . . . . . 551
Systems Director . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x
Managing Power Systems running AIX . . . . . 507
storage devices . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Managing Power Systems running IBM i . . . . 507
Adding IBM BladeCenter Integrated Storage
Managing systems controlled by HMC and IVM 508
devices to a server. . . . . . . . . . . 555
Viewing the Power Systems Management summary 509
Provisioning storage from an existing storage
Monitoring for IBM i message queue events . . . 510
subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
Managing power state settings on IBM Power
Managing storage volumes in real time. . . . 557
systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
Configuring iSCSI components in real time . . 560
Power On/Off task support by way of the
Configuring IBM BladeCenter SAS zone
operating system on IBM Power systems . . . 512
connectivity in real time . . . . . . . . . 565
Changing the power state on IBM Power
Managing storage with configuration templates 566
systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
Viewing storage configuration templates . . . 566
Changing storage configuration templates . . . 567
Chapter 12. Managing IBM System z Creating a configuration template for a storage
systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515 volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
System z virtualization . . . . . . . . . . 515 Managing IBM BladeCenter SAN configuration
Basics about the z/VM operating system . . . . 515 mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
z/VM manageability access point and agent . . . 518 Configuring iSCSI components using
Viewing the System z Management summary page 519 configuration template . . . . . . . . . 571
Discovering systems and collecting inventory data Managing IBM BladeCenter SAS zone
for System z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Managing power state settings for Linux on
System z servers . . . . . . . . . . . . 521 Chapter 14. Managing virtual
Power On/Off task support by way of the
environments . . . . . . . . . . . 581
operating system on System z servers . . . . 521
Virtual systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
Changing the power state on System z servers 521
Platform managers . . . . . . . . . . 581
Virtual farms . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
Chapter 13. Managing and configuring Hosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 Virtual servers . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
Storage management in real time and using Guest-operating-systems. . . . . . . . . 585
configuration templates . . . . . . . . . . 523 Virtualization groups . . . . . . . . . . . 585
Managing SMI-S providers . . . . . . . . . 523 Viewing the Virtualization Management summary 586
SMI-S providers for IBM Systems Director. . . 523 Viewing resources in virtualization perspectives 586
Installing SMI-S Providers . . . . . . . . 526 In the Virtualization Basic perspective . . . . 586
Configuring SMI-S providers . . . . . . . 531 In the Virtualization Common perspective . . . 586

Contents vii
In the Virtualization Detail perspective . . . . 586 Authenticating IBM Systems Director users
Viewing resources in the Platform Managers and stored in the Microsoft Active Directory domain. 637
Members view . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587 Authenticating IBM Systems Director users
Viewing resources in the Virtual Servers and Hosts stored in LDAP. . . . . . . . . . . . 638
view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587 Editing user properties . . . . . . . . . 641
Viewing virtualization properties . . . . . . . 588 Authorizing users to IBM Systems Director . . . 641
Configuring virtual resources . . . . . . . . 589 User authorization. . . . . . . . . . . 641
Configuring Power Systems platform managers 589 Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
Configuring storage resources . . . . . . . 594 Permissions and roles required to run smcli
Managing host systems . . . . . . . . . . 596 commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
Entering maintenance mode . . . . . . . 596 Authorizing users to manage resources . . . . 648
Exiting from maintenance mode . . . . . . 596 Assigning a role to a user or user group . . . 648
Starting the virtualization service on a host . . 596 Copying a role to another user . . . . . . 649
Stopping the virtualization service on a host . . 597 Creating a role . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
Managing virtual farms . . . . . . . . . . 597 Managing roles . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Adding a host to a virtual farm . . . . . . 597 Ending the session for another user . . . . . 651
Creating a virtual farm . . . . . . . . . 597 Managing user groups in IBM Systems Director 652
Deleting a virtual farm from IBM Systems Managing credentials in IBM Systems Director . . 653
Director and VMware VirtualCenter . . . . . 599 Managing shared credentials . . . . . . . 654
Removing a virtual farm from IBM Systems Managing mappings . . . . . . . . . . 658
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 Configuring the authentication registry . . . . 660
Editing a virtual farm . . . . . . . . . 600 Managing targeted credentials . . . . . . . 661
Removing a host from a virtual farm . . . . 600 Managing access . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
Starting the virtualization service on a farm . . 600 Accessing a secured system with request access 666
Stopping the virtualization service on a farm 601 Accessing a secured system with configure
Viewing virtual farms . . . . . . . . . 601 access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
Managing virtual servers . . . . . . . . . 602 Configuring access to CIM using X509
Connecting to a platform manager . . . . . 602 certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668
Disconnecting from a platform manager . . . 602 Revoking access to a secured system . . . . 668
Creating virtual servers . . . . . . . . . 603 Managing access to agentless managed systems 669
Creating a virtual disk for Xen . . . . . . 617 Accessing a managed system with configure
Deleting a virtual server permanently . . . . 617 system credentials . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Editing host resources . . . . . . . . . 618 Communication protocols and supported
Editing virtual servers . . . . . . . . . 618 encryption algorithms . . . . . . . . . . 669
Accessing the Xen remote console . . . . . 620 Encrypting passwords for database configuration 670
Managing power operations on virtual servers 620
Relocating virtual servers . . . . . . . . 623 Appendix. Accessibility features for
Launch VMware ESX Manager User Interface 631 IBM Systems Director . . . . . . . . 673
Launch VMware VirtualCenter Console . . . 631
Accessibility options in IBM Systems Director . . 673
Launch VMware Infrastructure Client . . . . 632
Keyboard navigation in IBM Systems Director . . 674
Launch Microsoft Virtual Server Console . . . 632
Using a screen reader with IBM Systems Director 675

Chapter 15. Security . . . . . . . . 633 Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677


Authenticating users to IBM Systems Director . . 634
Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678
User authentication . . . . . . . . . . 634
Users and user groups in IBM Systems Director 635
Authenticating IBM Systems Director users Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
stored in the local operating system . . . . . 636

viii IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


About this publication
This publication provides instructions for using IBM® Systems Director for
systems-management tasks. IBM Systems Director consists of the following tools to
meet your systems-management needs:
v IBM Systems Director Web interface is the graphical user interface (GUI) for IBM
Systems Director Server. Using IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can
conduct comprehensive systems management using either a drop-and-drag
action or a single click.
v IBM Systems Director command-line interface (dircli) is the command-line
interface for IBM Systems Director Server. You can use a command-line prompt
to access, control, and gather information from IBM Systems Director Server.

This documentation also provides planning and implementation information for


event management.

Conventions and terminology


These notices are designed to highlight key information:

Note: These notices provide important tips, guidance, or advice.

Important: These notices provide information or advice that might help you avoid
inconvenient or difficult situations.

Attention: These notices indicate possible damage to programs, devices, or data.


An attention notice appears before the instruction or situation in which damage
can occur.

Publications and related information


You can view the same content in the IBM Systems Director Information Center as
PDF documents. To view a PDF file, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can
be downloaded for free from the Adobe Web site at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.

Information centers and topic collections


v IBM Systems
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/eserver/
View the IBM Systems information center landing page, which provides
integrated information for multiple IBM Systems products.
v IBM Systems Director
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jsp
Updated periodically, the IBM Systems Director topic collection contains the
most up-to-date documentation available for IBM Systems Director.
v IBM Systems Director plug-ins
publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/index.jsp
View the IBM Systems information center for information about how to install
and use plug-ins that extend the functionality of IBM Systems Director.
v IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Modules (UIMs)

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 ix


publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/topic/uims/fqs0_main.html
Read the IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Modules (UIM) topic
collection to learn about how to install and use upward integration modules and
management packs that enable non-IBM workgroup and enterprise-management
products to interpret and display data that is provided by Common Agent and
Platform Agent.
v IBM Systems Director API Licensing
http://www.ibm.com/vrm/4api1
View the license information regarding use of IBM Systems Director APIs and
their associated documentation. Fill out the form to request API access. After
your information is reviewed, you will be contacted with additional information
regarding access to and use of the APIs.

Publications
APAR Readme 6.2.0
Provides information about APARs fixed in IBM Systems Director version
6.2.0.
Release Notes® 6.2.0 and Release Notes 6.2.1
Provides information about hardware requirements for running IBM
Systems Director components, supported IBM Systems Director hardware,
operating systems, databases, and workgroup and enterprise
systems-management software.
Hardware and Software Support Guide
Provides information about hardware requirements for running IBM
Systems Director components, supported IBM Systems Director hardware,
operating systems, databases, and workgroup and enterprise
systems-management software.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for AIX®
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running AIX using the standard
installation option.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for IBM i
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running IBM i using the Standard
installation option.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on Power Systems™
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Linux for Power Systems using
the Standard installation option.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on x86
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Linux for System x® using the
Standard installation option.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on System z®
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Linux for System z using the
Standard installation option.

x IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Windows
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Windows using the Standard
installation option.
Systems Management Guide
Provides detailed instructions for using the Web interface and managing
systems and resources in your environment.
Troubleshooting Guide
Provides information about problems and how to solve them, and
strategies for troubleshooting common problems.
Events Reference
Provides information about IBM Systems Director events, including the
event type, description, severity, and extended details.
Commands Reference
Provides detailed information about the systems management
command-line interface (smcli) commands, and other commands that can
be run directly from the command line, including configuring the database,
and starting and stopping IBM Systems Director.
Hardware Command Line User's Guide
Provides information about installing and using the Hardware Command
Line (formerly known as the IBM Management Processor Command-Line
Interface). Command output in this release might vary from command
output in previous releases.

White papers and briefs


v IBM Systems Director
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/common/ssi/sa/wh/n/xbw03006usen/
XBW03006USEN.PDF
This paper provides a detailed overview of the changes in IBM Systems Director
V6.1, including the new Web interface, security features, operating system
agents, integrated plug-ins and additional plug-ins that can be separately
installed.
v Value Proposition for IBM Systems Director
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/common/ssi/sa/wh/n/xbw03007usen/
XBW03007USEN.PDF
This paper describes the challenges of operational management for enterprise
server installations and the value provided IBM Systems Director.
v Managing IBM Power Servers with IBM Systems Director 6.1
www.ibm.com/common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=SA&subtype=WH
&appname=STGE_PO_PO_USEN&htmlfid=POW03011USEN
&attachment=POW03011USEN.PDF
Provides information about managing the virtualization and consolidation on
Power systems using IBM Systems Director.
v IBM Systems Director 6.1 Migration Tips
www.ibm.com/common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=SA&subtype=WH
&appname=STGE_XB_XB_USEN_&htmlfid=XBW03009USEN
&attachment=XBW03009USEN.PDF
Provides information about migrating data when upgrading your environment
from IBM Director V5.20 to IBM Systems Director V6.1.
v Performance Tuning and Scaling Guide for IBM Systems Director 6.2

About this publication xi


http://www-01.ibm.com/support/
docview.wss?uid=nas7cd6a96f49d05f608862577420075ca9a&aid=1
Provides information about how to plan, implement, configure, and use an IBM
Systems Director Server to manage a large configuration with optimal
performance. The Performance Tuning and Scaling Guide also contains
information about the following topics:
– Running IBM Systems Director plug-ins, such as IBM Systems Director Active
Energy Manager® and IBM Scalable Systems Manager
– Integration with Tivoli® products
– Implementing High Availability (HA)

IBM Redbooks® publications


www.ibm.com/redbooks/

You can also search this Web page for documents that focus on IBM Systems
Director and specific IBM hardware; such documents often contain
systems-management material. The following book is available for IBM Systems
Director V6.1:
Implementing IBM Systems Director 6.1

Tip: Be sure to note the date of publication and to determine the version of IBM
Systems Director software to which the Redbooks publication refers.

Further information

Also see the following resources for further information about IBM Systems
Director:
v For alerts, discussions, news, parts and product information, and specific
troubleshooting workarounds for IBM Systems Director, see the Support &
downloads Web site at http://www.ibm.com/support/us/en/.

Tip: To locate the information that you need, enter Systems Director in the
Search field and click Search. You can then narrow your results by document
type or product category, or use additional search terms.
v For white papers, technotes, tips, and other documents related to IBM Systems
Director, see the Techdocs Web site at http://w3.ibm.com/support/techdocs/
atsmastr.nsf/Web/Techdocs.

Tip: To locate the information that you need, either select the categories that you
want to search or select UNMARKED to search all categories. Then enter
Systems Director in the for: field and click Search.
v For solutions to all types of situations that other customers have encountered,
see the IBM Systems Director customer forum at www.ibm.com/
developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=759.

Web resources
Listed here are the Web sites and information center topics that relate to IBM
Systems Director.

xii IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Web sites
v IBM Systems Director
www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/
View the IBM Systems Director Web site on ibm.com® which provides links to
downloads and documentation for all currently supported versions of IBM
Systems Director.
v IBM Systems Director Downloads
www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/downloads/
View the IBM Systems Director Downloads Web site on ibm.com which provides
links to download code IBM Systems Director, IBM Systems Director plug-ins,
and IBM Systems Director upward integration modules.
v IBM Systems Director Documentation and Resources
www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/resources/
View the IBM Systems Director Documentation and Resources Web site on
ibm.com which provides links to product documentation, redbooks, redpapers,
white papers, and learning modules related to IBM Systems Director, IBM
Systems Director plug-ins, and IBM Systems Director upward integration
modules.
v IBM Systems Director Upward Integration
www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/upward/
View the IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Web site on ibm.com which
provides more information about IBM Systems Director upward integration
modules created by IBM and other companies. IBM Systems Director UIMs
enable third-party workgroup and enterprise systems-management products to
interpret and display data that is provided by IBM Systems Director Platform
Agent managed system.
v IBM Systems Director Best Practices Wiki
www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/WikiPtype/
IBM+Systems+Director+Best+Practices+Wiki
View updated documentation and best practices for IBM Systems Director on
various systems.
v IBM Servers
www.ibm.com/servers/
View the IBM Servers Web site to learn about IBM Systems server and storage
products.
v IBM ServerProven®
www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/
View the IBM ServerProven Web site to learn about hardware compatibility of
IBM System x and BladeCenter® systems with IBM applications and middleware,
including IBM Systems Director.

Forums
v IBM Systems Director
www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=759
View the IBM Systems Director forum Web site on ibm.com to discuss
product-related issues pertaining to IBM Systems Director, IBM Systems Director
UIMs, and IBM Systems Director extensions. This Web site includes a link for
obtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed.
v IBM Systems Director SDK

About this publication xiii


www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/dw_esforums.jspa
View the IBM Systems Director SDK forum Web site to discuss issues pertaining
to the IBM Systems Director Software Development Kit (SDK). This Web site
includes a link for obtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed.
v IBM Systems
www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/dw_esforums.jsp
View the IBM Systems forums Web site on ibm.com to learn about various
forums that are available to discuss technology-related and product-related
issues pertaining to IBM Systems hardware and software products. This Web site
includes a link for obtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed.

How to send your comments


Your feedback is important in helping to provide the most accurate and highest
quality information.

If you have any comments about this book or any other IBM Systems Director
publication, go to the IBM Systems Director information center Web site at
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jsp. There you
will find the feedback page where you can enter and submit comments.

xiv IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Terminology changes
Several terms have changed between IBM Director v5.x and IBM Systems Director
v6.x.

Deprecated terms New terms Description


IBM Director Agent Common Agent Common Agent provides a rich set of
security, deployment, and management
function. The function available for
Common-Agent managed systems varies
based on operating system and hardware,
and includes the following tasks: discover
systems; collect comprehensive platform
and operating system inventory data;
monitor health and status; manage alerts;
remotely deploy and install Common
Agent; perform remote access, including
transferring files; perform power
management function; additional event
support; monitor processes and resources,
and set critical thresholds that send
notifications when triggered; manage
operating system resources and processes.
IBM Director Core Platform Agent Platform Agent provides a lighter footprint
Services and fewer management functions than the
Common Agent. The function available for
Platform-Agent managed systems is limited
to the following tasks, and varies based on
operating system and hardware: discover
systems, collect limited platform inventory
data, monitor health and status, manage
alerts, remotely deploy and install Common
Agent, perform limited remote access, and
perform limited restart capabilities.
Level-2 managed Common Agent A system on which Common Agent is
object managed system installed
Level-1 managed Platform Agent A system on which Platform Agent is
object managed system installed
Level-0 managed Agentless managed A system that does not have an agent
object system installed but can be discovered by IBM
Systems Director using Secure Shell (SSH),
Distributed Component Object Model
(DCOM), or Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP).

The function available to


Agentless-managed systems is limited to the
following tasks, and varies based on
operating system and hardware: discover
systems, collect limited operating-system
inventory data, remotely deploy and install
Common Agent and Platform Agent,
perform limited remote access, and perform
limited restart capabilities

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 xv


Deprecated terms New terms Description
Managed object System A hardware endpoint that can be discovered
and managed by IBM Systems Director. For
example, storage devices, network devices,
physical servers, virtual servers, and virtual
farms are systems.
Extension Plug-in Free or for-fee software that is downloaded
and installed on top of IBM Systems
Director to provide additional function.
Job activation Job instance A specific occurrence of a job that is
running or has completed running.
Event action plan Event automation A user-defined plan that determines how
plan IBM Systems Director automatically handles
certain events. An event action plan
comprises one or more event filters and one
or more customized event actions.
Hardware control Platform manager Software that manages one or more host
point systems and their associated virtual servers
and operating systems. Platform managers
can be started from the IBM Systems
Director Web interface. For example,
BladeCenter Management Module, IBM
Hardware Management Console (HMC),
IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager
(IVM), and VMware VirtualCenter are
platform managers.
Configuration profile Configuration plan A collection of templates used to configure
hardware and operating systems.
Component Template A stored version of definition parameters
for the configuration of a specific system.
Remote session Remote command A command-line interface to a remote
line system.

xvi IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Chapter 1. Overview of IBM Systems Director
This section provides an overview of IBM Systems Director, including supported
hardware and software requirements, technical overview, web resources, and what
is new in this release.

Accessibility
IBM strives to provide products with usable access for everyone, regardless of age
or ability.

The reference topic Accessibility features for IBM Systems Director provides details
about the accessibility support, tips, and workarounds of the product.

To learn about IBM Systems Director accessibility of the information center


interface, see the topic Accessibility and keyboard shortcuts in the information
center

Note: For technical details about the accessibility support in IBM Systems Director,
see the Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs). You can request VPATs
from the Web at http://www.ibm.com/research/accessibility/requests/
accvpat.nsf/bidxjs?OpenForm.

License information
Before deploying this product, ensure that you have the necessary licenses.

IBM Systems Director

The IBM Systems Director program contains Management Server (Manager)


components, Agent components, and application programming interfaces (APIs), as
further described in the documentation.

You are authorized to use Management Server and Agent components only on IBM
machines.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the IBM Systems Director program includes a


license for up to 20 installations of the Agent component on non-IBM x86 systems.
These 20 licenses for non-IBM x86 systems are not transferable and cannot be
combined or aggregated. For example, if you buy two IBM machines and install
the IBM Systems Director program on only one of them, you are entitled to install
the Agent component on only 20 non-IBM x86 systems. If you install the IBM
Systems Director program on both IBM machines, your entitlement is limited to
managing 20 non-IBM x86 systems. To install additional Agent components on
non-IBM x86 systems, you must obtain additional Agent component licenses from
IBM.

Authorization for IBM Systems Director for IBM Power Systems

Processor is a unit of measure by which the IBM Systems Director for IBM Power
Systems program can be licensed. Processor (commonly called a processor core or
CPU) is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and executes
instructions. A processor consists of at least an instruction control unit and one or

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 1


more arithmetic or logic unit. With multi-core technology, each core is considered a
processor. Authorization for the IBM Systems Director for IBM Power Systems
program is based on the total number of activated processors (including any
temporary processors) on the machines running the IBM Systems Director for IBM
Power Systems program and the total number of activated processors (including
any temporary processors) on the machines being managed by the IBM Systems
Director for IBM Power Systems program.

Authorization for IBM Systems Director for IBM x86 servers

Server is a unit of measure by which the IBM Systems Director for IBM x86 servers
program can be licensed. A Server is a physical computer that is comprised of
processing units, memory, and input/output capabilities and that executes
requested procedures, commands, or applications for one or more users or client
devices. Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is being
employed, each separable physical device (e.g., a blade or a rack-mounted device)
that has the required components is considered itself a separate Server.

The IBM Systems Director for IBM x86 servers program uses a per Server charging
metric. An authorization is required for each server running the IBM Systems
Director for IBM x86 servers program and for each server being managed by the
IBM Systems Director for IBM x86 servers program.

Authorization for IBM Systems Director for Linux on System z

Processor is a unit of measure by which the IBM Systems Director for Linux on
System z program can be licensed. Processor (commonly called a processor core,
CPU, or engine) is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and
executes instructions. A processor consists of at least an instruction control unit
and one or more arithmetic or logic unit. With multicore technology each core is
considered a processor. Authorizations for the IBM Systems Director for Linux on
System z program must be acquired for all activated processors available for use
for the server.

In addition to the authorization required for the IBM Systems Director for Linux
on System z program directly, you must obtain authorizations for this program
sufficient to cover the processor cores managed by the program. For IBM System z
machines, the authorization required for the IBM Systems Director for Linux on
System z program is based on the following:
1. When the IBM Systems Director for Linux on System z program is installed on
or managing engines with the Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL) feature, you
must acquire an authorization for each activated engine with the IFL feature on
that machine.
2. When the IBM Systems Director for Linux on System z program is installed on
or managing general purpose engines, you must acquire an authorization for
each activated general purpose engine on that machine.

Terms applicable to API use

The IBM Systems Director program includes APIs called Representational State
Transfer (REST) APIs and Advanced External Application Launch (AEAL) function.
The IBM Systems Director REST APIs and AEAL function are described in the
documentation, available through the IBM Systems Director Information Center.
You may develop applications using the Program's REST APIs and/or AEAL
function solely for testing and deployment within your Enterprise and only in

2 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


connection with your internal business purposes. An Enterprise is any legal entity
(such as a corporation) and the subsidiaries it owns by more than 50 percent. You
may not rent, lease, loan, sell or otherwise distribute applications or derivative
works created using the IBM Systems Director REST APIs and/or AEAL function
to third party end users external to your Enterprise unless you have entered into a
written contract with IBM for this purpose.

Warranty

The Specified Operating Environment for the IBM Systems Director program may
be located in the Planning section of the IBM Systems Director Information Center.
The IBM Systems Director program contains Upward Integration Modules (as
described in the documentation) for third party system management products to
manage IBM hardware platforms with IBM Director Agent components. There is
no warranty or support service available for the Upward Integration Modules
when you use a third party system management product.

Special terms for the Software Update component


When you use the Software Updates navigation link of the IBM Systems Director
program to request software updates, the Management Server component collects
information about the release level of certain software products installed on your
machine ("Software Information") and electronically sends that Software
Information to IBM. Software Information does not include business data such as
your financial, statistical and personnel data regarding your business. You agree
that IBM (including subcontractors and consultants under contract to IBM) may
store and use Software Information for purposes of software maintenance and
support, and that such Software Information (including any contact information
provided by you) may be transferred to such entities in any country whether or
not a member of the European Union.

Software Updates Licensee receives are covered by this Agreement. If any


additional or different terms apply to any such Software Update, such terms will
be included with the Software Update.

Supporting program details - IBM DB2®

The following applies to use of IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7.
Use Limitations: Use by Principal Program
"Use by Principal Program" means that neither you nor any application,
program, or device external to the Principal Program is authorized to
directly use or access the services of IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V
9.7 in any way. The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program is
provided exclusively for use by the Principal Program. You may access
IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 only to perform administrative
functions, such as backup, recovery, and authorized configuration but may
not directly use the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program for
any productive use.

IBM provides the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program without
obligation of support and "AS IS," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE
WARRANTY OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR NON-INTERFERENCE AND
ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY
AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Chapter 1. Overview 3
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you purchase an authorization to the IBM
Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1 (5765-ASM) product, the terms of the "IBM
International Program License Agreement", including this License Information, will
then apply to your use of the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program.

IBM Systems Director technical overview


IBM Systems Director is a platform-management foundation that streamlines the
way you manage physical and virtual systems across a heterogeneous
environment. By using industry standards, IBM Systems Director supports multiple
operating systems and virtualization technologies across IBM and non-IBM x86
platforms.

Through a single user interface, IBM Systems Director provides consistent views
for viewing managed systems, determining how these systems relate to one
another, and identifying their statuses, thus helping to correlate technical resources
with business needs. A set of common tasks included with IBM Systems Director
provides many of the core capabilities required for basic management, which
means instant out-of-the-box business value. These common tasks include
discovery, inventory, configuration, system health, monitoring, updates, event
notification, and automation across managed systems.

IBM Systems Director's Web and command-line interfaces provide a consistent


interface focused on driving these common tasks and capabilities:
v Discovering, navigating, and visualizing systems on the network with the
detailed inventory and relationships to the other network resources
v Notifying users of problems that occur on system and ability to drill down to
the source of the problem
v Notifying users when systems need updates and distributing and installing
updates on a schedule
v Analyzing real-time data for systems and setting critical thresholds that notify
the administrator of emerging problems
v Configuring settings of a single system and creating a configuration plan that
can apply those settings to multiple systems
v Updating installed plug-ins to add new features and function to the base
capabilities
v Managing the lifecycle of virtual resources

IBM Systems Director is designed to manage simple and complex environments,


with multiple operating systems and platforms, up to 5 000 managed systems. It
supports the management of a variety of IBM and non-IBM hardware driving
common tasks through the following platform management plug-ins and virtual
resources. The systems supported include:
v IBM Power Systems management
– HMC, IVM, and VIOS appliances
– Power servers, Power blades, and LS41 and QS21 blade servers
– AIX, IBM i, and Linux on POWER® operating systems
v IBM BladeCenter and System x management
– IBM BladeCenter chassis components, such as switch modules and server
blades
– System x systems and blade servers
– VMWare, Microsoft Virtual Server (MSVS), and Xen virtual servers
– Windows and Linux operating systems on System x
v IBM System z management

4 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


– z/VM hypervisor
– Linux on System z operating system installed on z/VM® virtual servers
– Linux on System z running on a partition without z/VM
v IBM System Storage® management
– Integrated RIA controller (such as LSI)
– Network storage, such as DS3000, DS4000®, DS 5000, and DS6000™
– Storage switches, such as IBM BladeCenter SAS, Brocade, QLogic, Nortel, and
Cisco
v IBM System Storage management

IBM Systems Director integrates with robust workgroup and enterprise


management software from IBM (such as Tivoli software), Computer Associates,
Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, NetIQ, and BMC Software.

IBM Systems Director components


IBM Systems Director includes IBM Systems Director Server and two
operating-system agents: Common Agent and Platform Agent.

IBM Systems Director Server provides a central point of control for aggregating
and managing discovered systems based on a service-oriented architecture. It can
be installed on one or more systems, called management servers. Systems that
connect to the IBM Systems Director Web interface on the management server
through a Web browser are called browser systems.

The operating-system agents serve as the control point for accessing operating
system and host information that might not be accessible through an out-of-band
interface (such as remote supervisor adapter (RSA), Baseboard Management
Control (BMC), and BladeCenter Management Module). These agents run on
operating-system-based and hardware-based endpoints, called systems, that can be
discovered and managed by IBM Systems Director. The level of system
management depends on the agent that is installed on the system: Common Agent
or Platform Agent. Each agent provides a different footprint size, level of
performance, and set of management functions.

IBM Systems Director can discover and manage some systems on which neither of
these operating-system agents is installed, but the level of management is limited.

This figure shows where the IBM Systems Director Server and operating-system
agents are installed in a basic IBM Systems Director environment.

Chapter 1. Overview 5
Management server

IBM Systems Director Server installed


Includes:
- IBM Systems Director Server
- IBM Systems Director Web interface
- Command-line Interface
- Common Agent

HTTPS TCP/IP Various protocols

Browser system SNMP devices


- no IBM Systems Director
Ccode installed Agentless managed systems Agentless managed systems
- no IBM Systems Director - no IBM Systems Director
Ccode installed Ccode installed
Cco

Platform managed systems


- Platform Agent installed
on each

Common managed systems


- Common Agent installed
on each

FQM0501-0

Figure 1. Software in an IBM Systems Director environment

Management server
The management server is a system that has IBM Systems Director Server installed.
It provides a central point of control for aggregating and managing discovered
systems based on a service-oriented architecture.

IBM Systems Director Server stores data about discovered systems, their attributes,
and their relationships to other resources in a relational database. You can access
information that is stored in this database even when the managed systems are not
available. IBM Systems Director Server includes a default database, Apache Derby,
although you can choose to use any supported database (including the
high-performance DB2 database).

IBM Systems Director Server includes two interfaces that the system administrator
can use to manage their environment: a Web user interface and a command-line
interface. The system that you use to interact with these interfaces is called the
browser system.

6 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Tip: When you install IBM Systems Director Server, the Common Agent is
installed automatically on that system. The Common Agent provides a rich set of
security, deployment, and management function.

Common Agent
Common Agent provides a rich set of security, deployment, and management
function.

Common Agent is available for all Power Systems, System x, IBM BladeCenter,
System z systems, and some non-IBM systems, when the system is running a
supported operating system.

Notes:
v Systems running AIX require Common Agent to be installed. These systems
cannot be managed with Platform Agent.
v For a detailed list of operating systems that are supported for Common Agent,
see the Planning information.

Common Agent replaces Level 2: IBM Director Agent version 5.20. IBM Systems
Director 6.x supports agent systems running either the new Common Agent
version 6.x or the older Level 2: IBM Director Agent version 5.20.

The functionality that is available for Common Agent managed systems varies
based on the operating system and hardware in an environment, and includes the
following functionality:
v Discover systems
v Collect comprehensive platform and operating system inventory data
v Monitor health and status
v Manage alerts
v Remotely deploy and install Common Agent
v Perform remote access, including transferring files
v Perform power management function
v Additional event support
v Monitor processes and resources, and set critical thresholds send notifications
when triggered
v Manage operating system resources and processes
v Manage updates
Additionally, using Common Agent instead of Platform Agent provides enhanced
scalability through asynchronous system management, which reduces the demands
on IBM Systems Director Server. Firewall management is simplified, too, because
Common Agent requires that you keep fewer ports open.

For a detailed list of functionality that is supported by Common Agent managed


systems, see the Planning information.

Note: Throughout the IBM Systems Director documentation, the term Common
Agent (with both words capitalized) refers to the IBM Systems Director Common
Agent, which includes subagents that provide specific management capabilities for
IBM Systems Director. IBM Systems Director can also discover and perform limited
management on other common agents that use the common agent services (CAS)
architecture. When referring to these common agents generically, lowercase text is
used.

Chapter 1. Overview 7
For information about resource managers and agent managers, see “Common
agent services”.

Platform Agent
Platform Agent is well suited for environments that require a smaller footprint
without sacrificing a high level of manageability. It provides a subset of Common
Agent function used to communicate with and administer the managed systems,
including hardware alerts and status information.

Platform Agent is available for all IBM Power, System x and IBM BladeCenter, and
System z, IBM System Storage systems, and some non-IBM systems.

For IBM i, Platform Agent is part of the IBM Universal Manageability Enablement
for i Licensed Program Product that ships with the base operating system.

Platform Agent 6.1.x is the upgrade replacement to Level 1: IBM Director Core
Services version 5.20.3. IBM Systems Director Server 6.1 and 6.1.x support systems
running either IBM Director Core Services version 5.20.3 or Platform Agent 6.1.x.
Common Agent 6.1.1 supports systems running Platform Agent 6.1.x.

Note: The version level of Platform Agent might not match the version levels of
IBM Systems Director Server or Common Agent.

The function available for Platform Agent managed systems is limited to the
following tasks, and varies based on operating system and hardware.
v Discover systems
v Collect limited platform inventory data
v Monitor health and status
v Manage alerts
v Remotely deploy and install Common Agent
v Perform limited remote access
v Perform limited restart capabilities

For a detailed list of function that is supported by Platform Agent managed


systems, see the Planning information in the information center at.

Agentless managed systems


IBM Systems Director provides a set of manageability functions for managed
systems that do not have Common Agent or Platform Agent installed. These
Agentless managed systems are best for environments that require very small
footprints and are used for specific tasks, such as one-time inventory collection,
firmware and driver updates and remote deployment.

Agentless managed systems must support the Secure Shell (SSH) or Distributed
Component Object Model (DCOM) protocol, or the Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP) interface. IBM Systems Director discovers Agentless managed
systems by verifying the IP addresses on your network and scanning the ports of
those addresses using the SSH or DCOM protocols. By default, IBM Systems
Director uses the range of addresses that are in the IP domain of the management
server. You can discover a specific IP address or range of IP addresses using the
IBM Systems Director Web interface.

When an Agentless managed system is discovered, it is locked by default. You can


unlock the system by requesting access to it through IBM Systems Director.

8 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Agentless managed systems are well suited for one-time collection of inventory,
and can be used for updating firmware and drivers, and remotely deploying and
running it via SSH or DCOM services.

Note: No persistent data is stored on Agentless managed system.

The function available to Agentless managed systems is limited to the following


tasks, and varies based on operating system, platform, and hardware.
v Discover systems
v Collect limited operating-system inventory data
v Remotely deploy and install Common Agent and Platform Agent.
v Perform limited remote access
v Perform limited restart capabilities

For a detailed list of function that is supported by Agentless managed systems, see
the “Planning for IBM Systems Director” section in the information center at
publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/topic/
com.ibm.director.plan.helps.doc/fqm0_r_planning.html.

Manageable resource types


A resource is a generic term for anything that IBM Systems Director can manage.
For example, systems, slots, cards, groups, and updates are all resources.

From the Web interface, you can use the Find a Resource task to find resources and
use the Navigate Resources task to view and work with these resources.

Manageable systems and system types


A system is one type of resource that IBM Systems Director manages. It is an
operating-system-based or hardware-based resource that has an IP address and
host name and can be discovered and managed by IBM Systems Director. From the
Navigate Resource page in the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can view
the All Systems group to work with all discovered systems.
Operating-system-based systems
Operating-system-based systems (referred to as operating systems) consist
of the operating system image, agent, drivers, applications, and
configuration settings. From the Navigate Resource page in the IBM
Systems Director Web interface, you can view the All Operating Systems
group to work with these types of systems.
Hardware-based systems
Hardware-based systems are the physical and virtual systems, such as
servers, virtual servers, storage systems, and network devices. Physical
systems can host multiple operating systems and virtual servers, either by
using a dual-boot feature or by way of a hypervisor. From the Navigate
Resource page in the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can use the
All Network Systems, All Storage Systems, or All Systems groups to work
with the physical aspects of a system, determine how many virtual servers
a physical system contains, and determine how many operating systems
are running on a physical system.

To view the relationships between systems, view the topology map view for a
system by selecting the system and then clicking Actions > Topology Perspectives.
A submenu of applicable perspectives is displayed.

Chapter 1. Overview 9
To view resources associated with a system, select the system and then click
Actions > Related Resources. A submenu of applicable related resources is
displayed.

IBM Systems Director manages the following types of systems:


Chassis
A physical resource that encloses other resources and provides definable
functions. Example types include a desktop, processing node,
uninterruptible power supply, disk or tape storage, or a combination of
these types.
Cluster
A computer system that is composed of two or more computer systems
that operate together to increase performance, reliability, availability, and
serviceability.
ComputerSystem
A single component that runs one operating system, or multiple
components that are controlled by one or more operating systems.
GenericNetworkDevice
A computer system that has an unknown device type.
HardwareManagementConsole
A computer system that controls managed systems. This includes the
management of logical partitions and the use of Capacity on Demand.
OperatingSystem
Software that is responsible for the formation of an execution environment
and allocations of resources for software programs on a computer.
PassThroughModule
A Pass-Thru module.
Server A single node computer system such as a desktop, mobile device, or
NetPC. The Server class type is derived from the ComputerSystem class
type.
StorageSubsystem
A computer system that is dedicated to acting as a storage server.
Switch
A computer system that is dedicated to acting as a switch for network
traffic.
SystemChassis
A computer system that represents a modular enclosure that contains one
or more blades.

You can use the lssys -I command to obtain a list of valid system types for
commands such as discover.

Virtualization allows you to hide the physical characteristics of your servers to


consolidate servers, optimize resource usage, and improve IT flexibility and
responsiveness. Using virtualization, you can create multiple discoverable virtual
servers from a single physical server or create a single discoverable virtual server
from multiple physical servers. Each virtual server has an independent operating
environment and can have functions or features that are not available in its
underlying physical resources.

10 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Tip: Virtual servers running on IBM systems are often referred to as logical
partitions or virtual machines.
After IBM Systems Director discovers a physical server, it continues the discovery
process to find all associated virtual servers. Each IBM system offers virtualization
technologies to help you consolidate systems, optimize resource utilization, and
improve IT flexibility and responsiveness.

User interfaces
There are several methods for managing an IBM Systems Director environment: a
Web interface and a command-line interface (smcli).

Web interface

You can use the IBM Systems Director Web interface to conduct comprehensive
systems management through a graphical user interface. Data is securely
transferred between the Web browser and Web interface through HTTPS.

The system on which you logged in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface is
referred to as the browser system. You log in to the IBM Systems Director through a
supported Web browser using this URL:
http://System_Name:Port_Number/ibm/console

where System_Name is the name of the system on which IBM Systems Director
Server is installed and Port_Number is the first (lower) of two consecutive port
numbers that you specified for the Web server to use. The default ports for the
Web server are 8421 and 8422. If you use port 8422, make sure that you specify
https to indicate a secure port.

Command-line interfaces

You can use the systems management command-line interface interactively using
the smcli utilities. This command-line interface (CLI) is an important primary
interface into IBM Systems Director and can be used either as an efficient way to
accomplish simple tasks directly or as a scriptable framework for automating
functions that are not easily accomplished from a graphical user interface. For
security reasons, the CLI runs only on the management server.

The command-line interface follows the GN/POSIX conventions.

Tips:
v The IBM Systems Director smcli supports most commands that were available in
previous releases through the discontinued dircli utility.
v For security, the CLI runs only on the management server. You can run the CLI
remotely using a remote-access utility, such as Secure Shell (SSH) or Telnet.

Base function and extensible plug-ins


Base plug-ins in IBM Systems Director provide core function to manage the full
lifecycle of IBM servers, storage, network, and virtual servers. Plug-ins that
provide advanced function or function tailored to a particular environment can be
downloaded and installed on top of IBM Systems Director.

Basic user interface, security, and agent management functions include:


v Finding and viewing resources and resource information, including relationships
and properties

Chapter 1. Overview 11
v Organizing logical sets of resources into groups
v Starting, stopping, and scheduling tasks in IBM Systems Director
v Integrating third-party management software and other programs into the IBM
Systems Director Web interface
v Managing auditing
v Encrypting interprocess communication
v Managing Common Agent registration and authentication
v Authenticating users through a configured user registry available from the
operating system, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), or domain
controller
v Creating roles and authorizing users and user groups to access certain systems,
groups, and tasks
v Managing credentials to support single sign-on authentication, even when
services span different systems
v Installing, upgrading, and promoting agents

Discovery manager
Discovery manager performs physical and virtual system discovery and inventory
of related resources on the network.

You can use the discovery manager plug-in to:


v Discover systems and other resources (such as physical and virtual servers,
storage systems, and network devices) in a heterogeneous environment. Discover
resources by using a single IPv4 or IPv6 address, a single host name, a range of
IP addresses, or use a discovery profile to discover systems of different types
across multiple subnets.
v Collect inventory data about hardware and software that is currently installed
on systems. Inventory data is information about physical, logical, and virtual
hardware (such as virtual systems, virtual servers, and farms), software
applications, operating systems, middleware, firmware and BIOS, diagnostic
information, and network.
v Manage inventory profiles that you can use to discover a group of resources or
collect inventory data based on a set of criteria.
v View systems, inventory data, and relationships among systems in the network
using Navigate Resources.
v Request access to manage security credentials for discovered systems.

Status manager
Status manager provides an at-a-glance view of the health of your managed
resources (including systems, operating systems, applications, processes, and
security).

The status of discovered systems is automatically retrieved and displayed, and this
display can be customized in several ways—using one of the system status and
health tasks, navigating to a specific resource, or using the command line interface.

You can use the status manager plug-in to:


v Use the Status Manager Summary page to view the status of discovered systems
and a summary of tasks that will help you manage the status, problems and
events for systems.
v Determine the health, compliance, and performance of managed systems in your
environment using the health summary, scoreboard, and dashboard. The health

12 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


summary shows the overall health of your managed systems. The scoreboard
summarizes the hardware state, event state and compliance state for all
managed systems. The dashboard shows performance information for specific
managed systems.
v View the event log.
v Identify problems and find the root cause by viewing detailed information about
the problems and inspecting the event log.
v Monitor dynamic properties of resources by defining monitors and thresholds.
v Monitor applications on a specific system by defining process monitors.
v Automatically send notifications when devices and services on a specific system
reach or exceed a particular setting by defining thresholds.

Configuration manager
Configuration manager is used to integrate new hardware into your environment,
configure systems after installation, or do one-off configurations for problem
resolution. Configuration manager leverages a set of well defined templates that
can be applied to servers, storage, and network resources even if the resources are
comprised of very different technologies.

You can use the configuration manager plug-in to:


v Use the Configuration Manager Summary page to view system configuration
status and a summary of tasks that will help you configure your systems.
v Initially configure one or more systems (hardware and operating systems) to a
point where they can be deployed, allocated, and powered on.
v Automatically configure newly discovered systems using the automatic-deploy
capability of a configuration plan.
v Reconfigure systems to prepare for redeployment, reallocation, or
re-provisioning (for example, as a result of an event or as part of a workflow
that the configuration needs to be support).
v Manage configuration templates and plans. A configuration template is a collection
of settings and values that define the configuration of a system. A configuration
plan is a set of templates that can be applied to one or more systems in a specific
order.

Automation manager
Automation manager provides tools to notify an administrator or run a predefined
tasks automatically when a certain event occurs.

You can use the automation manager plug-in to:


v Use the Automation Manager Summary page to view the status of jobs and
automation plans and a summary of tasks that will help you automate tasks.
v Create custom event-automation plans used to automate tasks and other
responses to situations that occur in your environment.
v Create and manage event filters that allow the event automation plans to target
specific events.
v Create and manage event actions that identify tasks or commands to run or
notifications to send. The types of actions include starting a noninteractive task
or program on the management server or the system on which the event was
generated or sending an email notifications over the Internet or to a mobile
phone.

Chapter 1. Overview 13
Update manager
Update manager provides tools for maintaining current versions of operating
systems, device drivers, firmware and BIOS, and IBM Systems Director agent and
server code on managed systems without an upgrade or migration of the installed
product.

You can use the update manager plug-in to:


v Use the Update Manager Summary page to view update status and a summary
of tasks that will help you manage updates on your systems.
v View update history and status of targeted systems.
v Identify updates available for your systems.
v Create customized update groups for your company's certified list of updates.
v Detect and view out-of-date systems.
v Get a notification when systems are in need of updates and which updates are
needed.
v Download, distribute, and install available and requisite updates in a single
request without repackaging or performing each step in the process separately.
v Download and review update information, such as prerequisites, readmes,
Release Notes, content letters, and associated collateral.

Remote access manager


Remote access manager provides tools that support running and monitoring
applications and services running on remote systems.

You can use the remote access manager plug-in to:


v View and interact with applications on a system remotely by displaying the
screen image of the system using remote control tools, including Virtual
Network Computing (VNC), Remote Desktop (RDP), and web-based remote
control for IBM BladeCenter and RSA.
v Run command-line programs through a remote session. The remote session
creates less network traffic and uses fewer system resources than the remote
control applications and, therefore, is useful in low-bandwidth situations.
v Run hardware management commands from the hardware command line, which
connects to the service processor of the target system.
v Manage files on a remote system.
v Open console windows to one or more POWER managed systems.
v Execute a command on one or more managed systems in parallel.

Virtualization manager
Virtualization manager provides tools for managing the lifecycle of virtual
resources.

Virtualization manager now includes support for virtualized environments


managed by wholly different server virtualization environments. These include
Hardware Management Console (HMC), Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM),
Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware and Xen virtualization. Some additional basic
discovery and health management is supported for z/VM virtualization. As a
result of this cross-solution management consolidation, you can visualize and
control both the physical and virtual resources from a single user interface.

You can use the virtualization manager plug-in to:

14 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Work with virtualized environments and tools, including Hardware
Management Console (HMC), Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM),
Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware, and Xen virtualization
v View topology that shows the connections between physical and virtual
resources, which can vary dynamically across time
v Track alerts and system status for virtual resources and their resources to easily
diagnose problems affecting virtual resources
v Create automation plans based on events and actions from virtual and physical
resources, such as relocating a virtual server based on critical hardware alerts
v Create, delete and manage virtual servers and virtual farms for several
virtualization technologies in the industry
v Relocate virtual servers to alternate physical hosts

Note: For the full set of virtualization support, it is recommended that you use
IBM Systems Director VMControl. See the Virtualization Management summary
page for more information.

Network Management
Network Management provides management functions for network devices,
including discovery, inventory, health and status monitoring, and configuration.

You can use Network Management to:


v Discover network devices in your environment.
v Review your network device inventory.
v Monitor the health and status of network devices.
v View network device configuration settings, and apply templates to configure
devices.
v Run network diagnostics tools like ping and traceroute.

IBM BladeCenter and System x management


IBM BladeCenter and System x management provides lifecycle management of
your modular System x and IBM BladeCenter systems and related resources,
including discovery, health and status monitoring, configuration, updates, and
virtualization. It also provides platform-specific functions.

You can use the IBM BladeCenter and System x management plug-in to:
v Change power settings
v Manage hardware logs
v Identify hardware using the locator LED
v Turn off light-path diagnostic LEDs

IBM System z management


IBM System z management provides the capability to discover System z hosted
virtual servers, and to access status information about them.

This plug-in provides functions to discover, monitor status, configure, and update
these virtual servers. It also generates information used in the Welcome panel
summary view and includes support for Linux on System z and z/VM systems
running on IBM System z mainframes.

IBM Power Systems management


IBM Power Systems management provides lifecycle management of your IBM
Power systems, and platform managers such as Hardware Management Console
(HMC) and Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) platform managers, including

Chapter 1. Overview 15
discovery, health and status monitoring, configuration, updates, and virtualization.
It also provides platform-specific functions.

You can use the IBM Power Systems management plug-in to:
v Manage the following Power Systems environments that might include servers
with any supported processor versions running AIX, IBM i, or Linux:
– Power Systems managed by the Hardware Management Console
– Power Systems managed by the Integrated Virtualization Manager
– A Power Systems server with a single image (a nonpartitioned configuration)
– A Power Architecture® BladeCenter server under the control of a BladeCenter
management module
v Perform management tasks on systems that are under the control of HMC and
IVM, including managing power, creating virtual serves, editing virtual server
resources, and relocating virtual servers between host systems.
v Perform management tasks that are available from the IBM Systems Director
Web interface for supported versions of AIX and IBM i.

For additional information about managing the virtualization and consolidation on


Power systems using IBM Systems Director, see the Managing IBM Power Servers
with IBM Systems Director 6.1 white paper on the Web at: www.ibm.com/
common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=SA&subtype=WH
&appname=STGE_PO_PO_USEN&htmlfid=POW03011USEN
&attachment=POW03011USEN.PDF

IBM System Storage management


IBM System Storage management provides lifecycle management of your physical
and virtual storage systems, including discovery, health and status monitoring,
configuration, updates, and virtualization. It also provides platform-specific
functions.

You can use the IBM System Storage management plug-in to:
v Add storage systems to IBM Systems Director using a proxy provider
v Configure storage systems
v Manage storage devices
v Update a SAN configuration profile
v Launch storage management applications
v Use integrated SCM features to manage integrated RAID Controllers,
BladeCenter SAS modules, and BC-S RAID SAS modules
v Use embedded management interfaces for DS3000, DS4000, and DS6000, and
TotalStorage Productivity Center (TPC) to manage SAN Volume Controller
(SVC), DS8000® and ESS storage devices
v Support for automation plans based on events and event actions from storage
resources
v Support for IBM System Storage Area Network products

Additional IBM Systems Director plug-ins


Additional IBM Systems Director plug-ins can be downloaded and installed on top
of IBM Systems Director to provide advanced function or function tailored to a
particular environment.

For a complete list of available plug-ins and for information about how to
download and install the plug-ins, see the IBM Systems Director Web site at
www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/plugins/.

16 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Active Energy Manager plug-in

The Active Energy Manager plug-in helps you to monitor and manage the power
and cooling needs of IBM servers and IBM BladeCenter systems. Non-IBM systems
can also be monitored using metering products, such as power distribution units
(PDU), sensors, and integration with facility software. You can use Active Energy
Manager to:
v Allocate less power and cooling infrastructure to your IBM servers.
v Reduce power usage on select IBM servers.
v Plan for the future by viewing trends of power usage over time.
v Determine power usage for all components of a rack.
Active Energy Manager is a licensed plug-in that supports Windows, Linux on
Power Systems, and Linux on System x platforms.

BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager plug-in

The BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager plug-in helps you to quickly replace and
recover blades in your environment. You can use this plug-in to:
v Pre-assign MAC and WWN addresses, as well as storage boot targets for up to
100 chassis or 1400 blade servers.
v Create addresses for blade servers, save the addresses to a configuration file, and
deploy the addresses to the blade slots in the same chassis or in up to 100
different chassis without any blade servers installed in the chassis.
v Automatically replace a failed blade from a designated pool of spare blades.

BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager is a for-fee plug-in that supports all platforms
that IBM Systems Director supports.

Service and Support Manager plug-in

The Service and Support Manager plug-in, which includes the Electronic Service
Agent™ tool, identifies and reports hardware problems and service information
automatically to IBM for service and support. All information sent to IBM is stored
in a secure IBM database and used for improved problem determination. You can
use Service and Support Manager to:
v Place service calls to IBM automatically if the system is under a service
agreement or warranty.
v Collect and send scheduled system inventory and diagnostic inventory to an
IBM database. This inventory information is available to IBM support
representatives when they are solving your problem.
v Communicate with IBM using a secure Internet connection using encryption and
authentication.

Service and Support Manager is a free plug-in that is supported on the following
operating systems when installed on the IBM Systems Director management
server:
v Windows for 32–bit and 64–bit systems
v Linux on System x for 32–bit and 64–bit systems
v Linux on Power Systems
v Linux on System z
v AIX

Chapter 1. Overview 17
IBM Systems Director Network Control plug-in

The Network Control plug-in provides facilities to discover, inventory, and monitor
network devices, launch vendor applications for configuration of network devices,
and see groups of network devices.

Note: IBM Systems Director Network Control V1.1 is not supported on IBM
Systems Director. When you install or upgrade to IBM Systems Director V6.2, the
Manage page displays Network Management in place of IBM Systems Director
Network Control.

IBM Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1

The Storage Control plugin lets you manage an expanded set of storage
subsystems and Fibre Channel switches.

You can use Storage Control to discover and collect inventory, and monitor device
health. These subsystems include the IBM DS8000 family (DS8100, DS8300, DS8700,
DS8800), the SAN Volume Controller, and the IBM Storwize V7000, as well as the
Brocade Fibre Channel switches.

Important: You must use IBM DB2 Enterprise Edition v. 9.7 (GA version only; fix
packs are not supported) as the database application for Systems Director to use
Storage Control. Migration from other databases within Systems Director to DB2 is
not supported.

For more information about Storage Control, see this topic: IBM Systems Director
Storage Control 4.2.1.

IBM® Systems Director Transition Manager for HP® Systems Insight


Manager™ plug-in

The Transition Manager for HP® Systems Insight Manager™ plug-in enables you to
discover systems that are being managed by HP Systems Insight Manager and
smoothly make the transition to managing the systems in IBM Systems Director.
Transitioned systems can be either IBM and non-IBM hardware. After the transition
is complete, you can manage the systems using IBM Systems Director which can
provide superior systems-management features for IBM hardware. Additionally,
you can still manage the systems using HP® Systems Insight Manager™.

IBM Systems Director VMControl plug-in

The VMControl plug-in is designed to simplify the management of workloads in


your IT environment. Use IBM Systems Director VMControl Express® Edition, IBM
Systems Director VMControl Standard Edition, and IBM Systems Director
VMControl Enterprise Edition to manage virtual servers, virtual appliances,
workloads, and system pools across multiple hardware platforms and
virtualization environments from one location.

IBM PowerVM™ Workload Partition Manager for AIX plug-in

IBM PowerVM Workload Partition Manager for AIX (WPAR Manager) is a plug-in
for IBM Systems Director that provides a centralized point of control for managing
workload partitions (WPARs) across a collection of managed systems running AIX.
Workload Partition Manager can manage heterogeneous environments of managed
systems at different AIX technology levels. However, to exploit full management

18 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


capabilities, the Workload Partition Manager agent should be updated to the latest
version. The following features are supported on all AIX technology levels:
Cross-system management of WPARs, including lifecycle management Global load
balancing with application mobility Web-based administration of basic WPAR
operations and advanced management tasks Monitoring and reporting of WPAR
performance metrics.

Upward integration
IBM Systems Director lets you to make the most of your existing enterprise
management structure by upwardly integrating with many workgroup and
enterprise-management products.

IBM Systems Director upward integration modules (UIMs) and management packs
enable non-IBM workgroup and enterprise-management products to interpret and
display data that is provided by Common Agent and Platform Agent. IBM Systems
Director UIMs and management packs provide enhancements to the
enterprise-management products that you can use to collect inventory data, view
IBM Systems Director event notifications, and for some UIMs, distribute IBM
Systems Director software packages.

With the IBM Systems Director UIMs and management packs, you can use your
enterprise-management software to manage systems that have Platform Agent or
Common Agent software installed on them.

You can use Platform Agent software to:


v Gather detailed inventory information about your systems, including operating
system, memory, network adapters, and hardware.
v Track your systems with features such as power management, event log, and
system monitor capabilities.

Platform Agent uses some of the latest systems-management standards, including


Common Information Model (CIM), Web-Based Enterprise Management (WEBM)
and Extensible Markup Language (XML), to provide compatibility with your
existing enterprise-management software.

For more information about upward integration modules, see IBM Systems
Director Upward Integration Modules in the IBM Systems information center on
the Web at publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/topic/uims/
fqs0_main.html.

You can also configure IBM Systems Director Server to forward alerts (such as
SNMP) to higher-level enterprise managers, including CA Unicenter NSM, HP
OpenView NNM, HP OpenView Operations for Windows, Tivoli Netview, Tivoli
Management Framework, Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager, and
Microsoft Systems Management Server.

I'm a 5.20 user. How do I use 6.x?


You know what you need to do in IBM Director 5.20, now use this section to learn
how to do it in IBM Systems Director 6.x. After you become accustomed to this
interface, you'll be able to see the status of your systems management environment
quickly and more easily than ever before.

Meeting customer demand for a Web-based interface, IBM Systems Director 6.x
delivers cutting-edge usability built on industry-accepted Web-interface standards.

Chapter 1. Overview 19
Use these topics to find answers to some of the questions you might have about
IBM Systems Director 6.x.

Why am I starting at the Welcome page?


In IBM Director Console version 5.20, limited status information was displayed
along the bottom of the window. This information included the number of
managed objects that had critical, warning, or information alerts; the status of IBM
Director; the host and login information for IBM Director Server; and the number
of managed objects in the Group Contents pane. In the IBM Systems Director Web
interface, the Welcome page gives you at-a-glance status information.

The Welcome page gives you information about all of your systems with fast-path
options to detailed information and tasks. The Welcome page lets you start your
work with a clear picture of your current systems-management environment.

IBM Systems Director Welcome page


Use the IBM Systems Director Welcome page to complete first-time setup steps,
make sure IBM Systems Director and its plug-ins are setup and configured,
manage your environment from plug-in summary pages, and access information
center topics and tutorials to expand your skills with IBM Systems Director.

Figure 2. The Welcome page displaying the Start, Manage, and Learn tabs

The following links are available at the top of the Welcome page:

Find a resource
Provides a way to quickly and easily find one or more resources in your
systems-management environment.

Find a task
Provides a way to quickly and easily find any task in IBM Systems
Director.

I'm a 5.20 user; how do I use 6.x?


Opens the IBM Systems Director information center to provide information
that describes how to use IBM Systems Director 6.x compared to the tasks
in IBM Director version 5.20. This information is specifically designed for
IBM Director version 5.20 users that want to understand how to complete
familiar tasks using the new IBM Systems Director Web interface.

About
Displays the version of your IBM Systems Director installation.

Web resources
Displays other information resources that are available on the Web.

20 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Update IBM Systems Director Server
Checks for and displays any updates that are available from the IBM Web
site that are required by IBM Systems Director Server.

The Start page:

Provides the tasks to perform getting started discovery (also called initial
discovery) in your systems-management environment, request access to your
discovered resources, and collect inventory from your resources. Then, use the next
steps provided on this page to make IBM Systems Director more productive. A
user must have the AllPermission permission to view this page; otherwise, it is not
displayed. For more information, see “Security.”

Chapter 1. Overview 21
Figure 3. The Welcome page interface displaying the Start page

Getting Started
Provides tasks and information that you can use to get started with IBM
Systems Director.

22 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Discover
Performs getting started discovery in your systems-management
environment. This discovery method searches the entire subnet of the
server on which IBM Systems Director Server is installed. It utilizes all the
protocols that IBM Systems Director uses to discover systems.

Status chart
Provides status information about resources that IBM Systems Director has
discovered. This information includes the number of operating systems
that are managed by way of the Common Agent, Platform Agent, or no
agent; the number of systems to which you do not have access, and the
number of systems on which inventory has not been collected. Click any of
these links to display detailed information about the affected systems and
resources.

Optional tasks
Provides optional tasks for getting started including discovery, inventory,
and navigate resources.

Next Steps
Provides typical tasks for setting up IBM Systems Director, including
registering with IBM, creating thresholds and event automation plans,
checking for updates, installing Common Agent on systems, setting up
security, and configuring your systems.

The Manage page:

Provides information that you can use to determine whether IBM Systems Director
and its plug-ins are ready to use. The message associated with each plug-in
changes based on whether the plug-in is ready to use. The links provided for each
plug-in include the plug-in Summary page on which you have quick access to
your environment's data and applicable tasks. If a plug-in is not ready to use, this
page provides links to the applicable tasks that you must perform to complete
setup or configuration of the plug-in. After the getting started discovery (also
called initial discovery) is completed, the Manage page is displayed by default
when you view the Welcome page.

The Manage tab includes an icon that is displayed if any problems exist with one
or more plug-ins.

Note: The Manage page displays only the plug-ins that the user is authorized to
use. If a user is not authorized to use any plug-ins, the Manage page is not
displayed.

Figure 4. The Manage tab with the Information icon

The icon displayed is tied to the plug-in states that are displayed on the Manage
page:

Chapter 1. Overview 23
If one or more plug-ins are in an Error state, the Error-connecting icon is
displayed on the Manage tab.

If one or more plug-ins are in the Setup-required state, the Setup-required


icon is displayed on the Manage tab.
No icon

If all plug-ins are in the ready state or collecting-data state ,


then no icon is displayed on the Manage tab.

24 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 5. The Welcome page interface displaying the Manage page

Chapter 1. Overview 25
Plug-in title
Click the plug-in title to display the plug-in summary page. The summary
page provides tasks and information that you typically use in that plug-in.

Readiness icons
Each plug-in title has one of the following icons next to its name denoting
whether the plug-in is ready for use:

Ready
The plug-in is correctly installed and configured.

Collecting data
The process to determine whether a plug-in is ready to use has
started and might take a long time. To determine when the plug-in
is ready, click Refresh (located at the bottom of the page) and if
the plug-in is ready the status icon will change.

Setup required
The plug-in is not set up correctly or the set up is currently
incomplete. A message and additional links are displayed
providing information about any required setup, such as additional
configuring, enabling of firewall support, identifying applicable
types of servers required by that plug-in, or other setup activities.

Error connecting
The plug-in has failed to connect to the applicable destination,
which might be the management server, a Web site, or another
destination.

Plug-in links
Each plug-in section provides links that you can use to complete any
configuration or setup activities.

Refresh
Click to refresh the ready-for-use information. It also reports that last time
the information was refreshed.

The Learn page:

Provides a list of available tutorials and other information center links. If the link
is to a tutorial, the link opens a tutorial section in the “Learning and tutorials”
section of the IBM Systems Director information center. Hover help for each link
provides a description for that tutorial.

26 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 6. The Welcome page interface displaying the Learn page

This page provides the following information:

Tutorial links
Provides links to available tutorials for installed plug-ins.

Tip: The tutorials are launched from the Internet. You must have access to
the Internet to view them. For more information about e-learning and
tutorials, see “Learning and tutorials.”

Hover help
Provides a description for each tutorial.

Starting work in IBM Systems Director


Before IBM Systems Director can manage your systems, the systems must be
discovered. Using the Welcome page, you can set up IBM Systems Director for use
for the first time.

To get started with IBM Systems Director, complete the following steps:
1. If this is the first time using IBM Systems Director, the Welcome page is
displayed automatically. Otherwise, in the IBM Systems Director navigation
area, click Welcome.
2. On the IBM Systems Director Welcome page, view the Getting Started section
on the Start page. This section provides status information about resources that
IBM Systems Director has discovered. This information includes the number of
operating systems that are managed by way of the Common Agent, Platform
Agent, or no agent; the number of systems to which you do not have access,
and the number of systems on which inventory has not been collected. Click
any of these links to display detailed information about the affected systems
and resources.

Chapter 1. Overview 27
Note: If you have not performed discovery yet, discovery and system access
information is reported only for the management server.
In the Optional tasks area, the tasks that are commonly used when setting up
IBM Systems Director are provided.
3. View the Next Steps section on the Start page. This section provides typical
tasks for setting up IBM Systems Director, including registering with IBM,
creating thresholds and event automation plans, checking for updates, installing
Common Agent on systems, setting up security, and configuring your systems.

Checking IBM Systems Director readiness


You can determine whether the plug-ins in your IBM Systems Director installation
are ready for use by viewing the Welcome page.

To determine whether plug-ins are ready for use, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab.
3. Browse the Manage page to determine the plug-ins that are in your IBM
Systems Director installation and whether they are ready for use. Each plug-in
has one of the following icons beside its name denoting whether the plug-in is
ready for use or requires additional setup or configuration:

Ready
The plug-in is correctly installed and configured.

Collecting data
The process to determine whether a plug-in is ready to use has started
and might take a long time. To determine when the plug-in is ready,
click Refresh (located at the bottom of the page) and if the plug-in is
ready the status icon will change.

Setup required
The plug-in is not set up correctly or the set up is currently incomplete.
A message and additional links are displayed providing information
about any required setup, such as additional configuring, enabling of
firewall support, identifying applicable types of servers required by
that plug-in, or other setup activities.

Error connecting
The plug-in has failed to connect to the applicable destination, which
might be the management server, a Web site, or another destination.
4. If a plug-in reports that it has a problem, click the displayed links to complete
the setup and configuration.
5. Complete the setup tasks listed for the plug-in.
6. On the Manage page, click Refresh. IBM Systems Director checks the plug-in.
The affected plug-in is now ready to use and its status is updated.

28 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Viewing the IBM Systems Director Server summary
You can view a summary of all activity within the past 30 days that is associated
with IBM Systems Director Server and the server on which it is running
(management server). Note that information on this page is refreshed automatically
when there are any changes.

To view the IBM Systems Director Server summary, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab.
3. On the Welcome page, scroll to the IBM Systems Director Server section of the
page and click the IBM Systems Director Server section heading. The IBM
Systems Director Server summary is displayed.
4. View the IBM Systems Director status section. This section provides the
following information:
v The management server name. Click the name to view the properties page
for the server.
v The current status for IBM Systems Director Server and, if applicable, its last
restart date and time. The Status field displays a local system health rating
that warns you when the IBM Systems Director Server is experiencing
problems that could jeopardize performance or stability. If a problem is
detected, a message ID is also provided. When you can click on the message
ID, a new window opens with a recommended operator response.
v The number of systems discovered. Click this link to display the discovered
systems.
v The type of authentication used.
v The known ports that are in use. Click All possible ports to view
information about ports that IBM Systems Director might use.

Note: This link opens the IBM Systems Director information center and
requires Internet access.
v The location of any trace and error logs.
v The database version number and driver that is installed.
v Current management server statistics: processor use, memory use, storage
use, and the number of active users.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
System discovery
Click System discovery to discover systems by specifying a single IP
address, host name, or IP address range or by using a discovery
profile.
Collect and view inventory
Click Collect and view inventory to open the View and Collect
Inventory task, with which you can collect the most current
inventory from a resource or view the inventory of a resource.
Find a task
Click Find a task to quickly and easily find any task. Then, you can
run the selected task.
Find a resource
Click Find a resource to quickly and easily find a particular resource.
Navigate resources
Click Navigate Resources to view, work with, and navigate among
resources in your systems-management environment, including view
and manage discovery options on an individual resource level.
5. View the Users and roles section. This section provides the following
information:

Chapter 1. Overview 29
v The number of users that do not have access to any resources. Click this link
to view the Users page that displays the affected users.
v The number of users that are defined in your IBM Systems Director Server
environment. Click this link to view the Users page that displays the defined
users.
v The number of roles that are defined in your IBM Systems Director Server
environment. Click this link to view the Roles page.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
Manage Users
Click Manage Users to specify basic properties for each authorized
user and assign access to each user using roles.
Manage Roles
Click Manage Roles to create, edit, or delete roles that are used to
assign access to users.
Add a role
Click Add a role to create a role.

You also can reach the summary page by using Find a Task. For more information,
see “Finding a task.”
Related reference

All possible ports

Learning about the product


There are several ways to learn about IBM Systems Director.

You can learn more about IBM Systems Director in the following ways:
v In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome. On the Welcome
page, click the Learn tab. View the available tutorials to expand your skills with
IBM Systems Director.
v On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. For each plug-in, click the plug-in
section heading to view its Summary page.
v Go to the IBM Systems Director information center at http://
publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jsp to review scenarios
and other information resources.
v Go to the IBM Systems Director customer forum. For more information, see
“Accessing the IBM Systems Director customer forum.”
v To familiarize yourself with other information resources available on the Web,
click Related Web Resources.

Viewing updates
You can view updates that you can choose to apply to your IBM Systems Director
environment.

To view updates, in the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome to
view the Welcome page and complete any of the following steps:
v On the Welcome page, in the upper right-corner, click Update IBM Systems
Director. The Update IBM Systems Director page is displayed.
v On the Start page, in the Next Steps section, click Check for updates on
discovered systems.
1. On the Check for Updates page, select the types of updates for which you
want check and click OK. Using the Check for Updates page, you can start
managing updates in the following ways:
– Select the systems to keep in compliance with the latest updates.

30 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


– Create an update group to contain the updates for your selected systems.
– Configure a connection to the Internet.
– Run or schedule a check for updates.
2. In the Run - Check for Updates window, click OK to start Check for Updates
immediately. IBM Systems Director checks for any updates that are available
from the IBM Web site. A message is displayed stating that the Check for
Updates has run.
3. Click Show Updates. The Show Updates page is displayed.
v On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. On the Manage page, view the
Update Manager section and click Check for Updates. The Check for Updates
page described in the preceding step is displayed.

Viewing tutorials
You can view tutorials to learn quickly how to use tasks and feature provided by
IBM Systems Director.

To view tutorials, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Learn tab. The Learn page is displayed with
the available tutorials for the installed plug-ins. Hover help provides a
description for each tutorial.
3. Click the tutorial link for the task about which you want to learn.

Tip: The tutorials are launched from the Internet. You must have access to the
Internet to view them. For more information about e-learning and tutorials, see
“Learning and tutorials.”

If you have trouble viewing a tutorial, make sure that you install version 8.0 or
later of Adobe Flash Player from www.adobe.com/downloads/ and ensure that
your browser security settings are not preventing the interactive content from
displaying. Also, make sure that the system on which you install the IBM Systems
Director components meets the defined hardware requirements.
Related concepts

Learning and tutorials

Viewing updates
You can view updates that you can choose to apply to your IBM Systems Director
environment.

To view updates, in the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome to
view the Welcome page and complete any of the following steps:
v On the Welcome page, in the upper right-corner, click Update IBM Systems
Director. The Update IBM Systems Director page is displayed.
v On the Start page, in the Next Steps section, click Check for updates on
discovered systems.
1. On the Check for Updates page, select the types of updates for which you
want check and click OK. Using the Check for Updates page, you can start
managing updates in the following ways:
– Select the systems to keep in compliance with the latest updates.
– Create an update group to contain the updates for your selected systems.
– Configure a connection to the Internet.
– Run or schedule a check for updates.

Chapter 1. Overview 31
2. In the Run - Check for Updates window, click OK to start Check for Updates
immediately. IBM Systems Director checks for any updates that are available
from the IBM Web site. A message is displayed stating that the Check for
Updates has run.
3. Click Show Updates. The Show Updates page is displayed.
v On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. On the Manage page, view the
Update Manager section and click Check for Updates. The Check for Updates
page described in the preceding step is displayed.

Viewing tutorials
You can view tutorials to learn quickly how to use tasks and feature provided by
IBM Systems Director.

To view tutorials, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Learn tab. The Learn page is displayed with
the available tutorials for the installed plug-ins. Hover help provides a
description for each tutorial.
3. Click the tutorial link for the task about which you want to learn.

Tip: The tutorials are launched from the Internet. You must have access to the
Internet to view them. For more information about e-learning and tutorials, see
“Learning and tutorials.”

If you have trouble viewing a tutorial, make sure that you install version 8.0 or
later of Adobe Flash Player from www.adobe.com/downloads/ and ensure that
your browser security settings are not preventing the interactive content from
displaying. Also, make sure that the system on which you install the IBM Systems
Director components meets the defined hardware requirements.
Related concepts

Learning and tutorials

What can I do with the rest of the interface?


In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, the Welcome page is displayed in the
content area. The navigation area provides commonly used tasks at the top, along
with controls to customize the Web interface for your specific needs.

32 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 7. Web interface

Navigation area
The navigation area of IBM Systems Director Web interface provides
categories of tasks that can vary depending on your IBM Systems Director
installation. The navigation provides links to tasks you can perform on
your resources. Examples of typical tasks might include Navigate
Resources, Inventory, Health Summary, and Automation and Settings.

Content area
When you open the Web interface, by default you see the Welcome page
for IBM Systems Director in the content area. The content area changes
depending on the item you select in the navigation area. You can
customize aspects of the content area using the Navigation Preferences. For
more information, see “Setting navigation preferences.”

View list
In the navigation area, this list provides the following alternate view
selections:

Chapter 1. Overview 33
All tasks
Displays all the tasks that are available in your IBM Systems
Director installation. This is the default view.
My tasks
Displays a customized list of tasks. For more information, see
“Customizing the Web interface.”
IBM Systems Director
Displays only IBM Systems Director tasks.

Select Action list


This list provides the following ways to work with task pages:
My Startup Pages
Customizes the pages that are started automatically when you log
in to IBM Systems Director, the page that is displayed first of these
automatically started pages, and the default navigation area view.
For more information, see “Customizing the Web interface.”
Manage Open Pages
Provides a way to manage and close one or more open pages.
Close Page
Closes the page that you are viewing.

Help
Displays the help system.

Logout
Logs out of IBM Systems Director.

How do I discover my systems?


In IBM Director Console, version 5.20, you could manually discover an individual
system, or use discovery preferences. Using the IBM Systems Director Web
interface, you can perform a getting started (initial) discovery of your subnet from
the Start page on the Welcome page.

From the Start page, you can also link to the system discovery task, which enables
you to discover systems by specifying a single IPv4 or IPv6 address, a single host
name, or a single IP address range or by using a discovery profile. System
discovery also is available from the Inventory section of the navigation area.

Performing getting started discovery


Use the Discover button on the Welcome page to perform getting started (initial)
discovery of the systems in your local subnet.

After you install IBM Systems Director and start the IBM Systems Director Web
interface for the first time, you are presented with a Discover button on the Start
tab of the Welcome page. Use the associated task to perform agent-based discovery
on only your local subnet and, optionally, request access to the systems that are
discovered.

The first time you perform getting started discovery, use the Start page. If you
want to perform another getting started discovery, you need to run a system
discovery using the Default getting started discovery profile.

34 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: Getting started discovery attempts all agent-related discovery protocols on
the local subnet. This inefficiency might cause the management server to time out
on one or more discovery requests, resulting in a small percentage of discoverable
resources remaining undiscovered.

To perform the first getting started discovery, complete the following steps:
1. Launch the IBM Systems Director Web interface and click the Start tab of the
Welcome page.
2. Click Discover. The Discover Network page is displayed.
3. Choose either of the following methods to request access to the discovered
systems:
Use user ID and password
Prompts you for a user ID and password that is then used to request
access to all the discovered systems. Access is granted to those systems
that accept the provided credentials.
Request access later
Discovers the systems but does not attempt to request access to any of
them. You can then use the request access tasks provided by IBM
Systems Director to manually request access at a later time.
4. Click Discover. A status icon displays the status of the discovery task, and the
dynamic elements on the page (for example, the pie chart) change to reflect the
current statistics of the set of discovered resources.
You will see Discovery completed in place of the Discover button after all the
discovery requests are sent. However, systems continue to appear as they
respond to the discovery request and manageable objects are created.

Note: The time it takes for discovery to finish processing varies depending on
such factors as network performance and the number of systems that are
discovered. Avoid managing newly discovered resources for a time after the
discovery task finishes, because associated processing continues to run.

After discovery is completed, use the navigate resources task to view and work
with the resources.

Performing a system discovery


Use the System Discovery task to discover one or more resources by specifying a
single IP address, single host name, or a single range of IP addresses, or by using a
discovery profile.

To perform a system discovery, complete the following steps:

Note:
v Discover only those resources that you intend to manage with IBM Systems
Director. For example, if the management interfaces of your networking
equipment are on a single subnet, yet you do not intend to manage your
networking equipment with IBM Systems Director, do not discover devices on
that subnet.
v When discovering a large number of resources, network traffic associated with
the discovery process might cause timeouts that result in some discoverable
resources remaining undiscovered. To help prevent this problem, use one or
more discovery profiles. Using a discovery profile enables you to target specific
resources and limit the number of communication protocols used during

Chapter 1. Overview 35
discovery. Limiting the number of communication protocols used when
discovering a large number of resources helps avoid problems caused by
network traffic collisions and timeouts.
1. Open the System Discovery page using either of these two methods:
v On the Start page on the Welcome page, click System discovery under
Optional tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click System Discovery.
The System Discovery page is displayed.
2. Select one of the following discovery methods:
Table 1. System discovery methods
To do this task: Complete these steps:
Use a single IPv4 or IPv6 address 1. Select Single IPv4 address or Single
IPv6 address from the Select a discovery
option field.
2. In the IP address field, type the IP
address of the system that you want to
discover.
3. If you want to discover only a specific
resource type, select it from the Select
the resource type to discover list.
Use a range of IPv4 or IPv6 addresses 1. Select Range of IPv4 addresses or Range
of IPv6 addresses from the Select a
discovery option field.
2. For the IP address range that contains
the systems that you want to discover,
type the complete low-end IP address in
the Starting IP address fields and the
last piece of the high-end IP address in
the Ending IP address field.
3. If you want to discover only a specific
resource type, select it from the Select
the resource type to discover list.
Use the host name of a system 1. Select Single host name from the Select
a discovery option field.
2. In the Host name field, type the host
name of the system that you want to
discover.
3. If you want to discover only a specific
resource type, select it from the Select
the resource type to discover list.
Use an existing discovery profile 1. Select Select a discovery profile to run
from the Select a discovery option field.
2. Select the profile that you want to use
from the Discovery profile to run field.
Create and use a discovery profile 1. Click Create new profile under
Advanced Tasks.
2. Use the Discovery Profile wizard to
create a discovery profile. After saving
the profile, the System Discovery page
display automatically, and the profile
you created is already selected.

3. Run the discovery.

36 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Click Discover Now if you want to run the discovery immediately.
v Click Schedule if you want to schedule the discovery to run at a specific
time. The Job Launcher page is displayed. Use the Job Launcher page to
configure the Schedule, Notification, and Options settings for the discovery
task.
The System discovery page updates in the following ways:
v A message displays information about the job under which the discovery
task runs.
v When the discovery task runs immediately, a status icon and text message
indicate the status of the discovery process.
v As the process discovers manageable resources, the Discovered Manageable
Systems table displays them. The Discovered Manageable Systems table
displays the resources that are discovered during the current discovery and
those resources that were discovered previously.
v The Discover Now and Schedule buttons are deactivated and the Stop and
New Discovery buttons appear.
4. Optional: If you want to stop the discovery process, click Stop. If you want to
run a new discovery while the current discovery continues to run, click New
Discovery. When you choose to run a new discovery, the Discovered
Manageable Systems table displays results for the new discovery only. To view
the results of the current discovery, use the Discovery jobs task.

As the process discovers manageable resources, the Discovered Manageable


Systems table displays them, including those resources that were discovered
previously.

Note: After a resource is discovered, the virtual systems that are associated with
that resource are also discovered.
v To view the results of a specific discovery that ran at a previous time or a
discovery that is scheduled to run at a later time, use the Discovery jobs task.
v To view all discovered resources, use the Navigate Resources task.

Note: The time it takes for discovery to finish processing varies depending on
such factors as network performance and the number of systems that are
discovered. Avoid managing newly discovered resources for a time after the
discovery task finishes, because associated processing continues to run.

When the discovery process completes, the status icon and text message disappear
and the Discover Now and Schedule buttons become active again.

How do I view my systems and groups?


In IBM Director Console version 5.20, you viewed groups in the Groups pane.
When you clicked a group, its members were displayed in the Group Contents
pane. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you no longer use panes. Instead,
you view your groups in Navigate Resources which displays groups in resource
views.

The default resource view is a table view. When you click on a group, you drill
down to the group members which can be more groups or individual systems and
their resources.

Chapter 1. Overview 37
Navigate Resources is available in the navigation pane and from the Welcome
page. The All Systems group is equivalent to All Managed Objects group in IBM
Director 5.20.

The IBM Systems Director Web interface provides a number of ways to view
information about your resources as well as manage the resources. The most
typical ways are through tables and the properties view. Most tasks and plug-ins
provide information and function using tables, although the amount of information
and function varies depending on the task or plug-in.

Information and functions also are provided using the properties view. The
properties view is always available for any resource by selecting the resource and
clicking Actions > Properties.

Some tasks and plug-ins, most notably Navigate Resources, also provide Topology
Perspectives. When you select this feature, you can view a collection of related
resources, such as systems and their storage, and see the relationships among the
resources using a topology map. You also can toggle from the map view to a
resource view or relationship view.

Table view
The table view can display a list of the resources or tasks. Tables are the basic way
that information is displayed in IBM Systems Director.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the table view.

Figure 8. Table view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

38 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Toolbar
Provides frequently used tasks as buttons. Available buttons vary,
depending on the task page. In this example, the Create Group button is
provided, but on other task pages, the Create Group button might not be.

Actions
Opens a list of available actions. These actions include those that are
provided in the toolbar and elsewhere on the page as well as actions that
are common to all tables. For common table actions, see “Table navigation
in IBM Systems Director.”

Search the table


Searches the table with the string or phrase provided. When you type a
string in this field, any matching strings in the currently displayed table
are highlighted. Additionally, if you click Search, all of the pages of a table
are searched for the provided string; only the rows that contain the string
are displayed in the table.

Resource area
Displays the content of the resource area depending on the resources that
you have chosen to view. To see the members of a group, click on a group
in the table. The view drills down to view the group members in the table
and another step is added to the breadcrumb path. For example, if you
click Common-Agent systems in the table, all systems in your
environment that have Common Agent installed are displayed. The
resource view functions in the same way regardless of the resources that
you have chosen to view.
To perform an action on a resource in the view, right-click the resource and
select an action.

Table state information


Provides navigation between pages of the table. The table view displays a
limited number of entries on a single page. To move to the next page, click
the arrow button at the bottom left portion of the table. The table view
indicates the number of pages of data that is being displayed, for example,
Page 1 of 3. It displays the count of resources or relationships currently
shown, filtered, and the number selected. To change the number of entries
that are displayed in the table, change the Rows per table setting in the
Navigation Preferences page. For more information see “Setting navigation
preferences.”

Tip: To got to a specific page, type a number in the provided entry field
and press Enter. If you specified an number that is not valid, the page in
the table does not change.

Properties view
The properties view displays a list of properties and other detailed information
associated with the selected resource. Using the properties view, you can access
troubleshooting information and other important details about a resource from
anywhere in the IBM Systems Director Web interface. This view is available for all
resources from the Actions menu and from the resource's pop-up menu.
Depending on the selected resource, the properties view can provide information
about any configuration settings, jobs, thresholds, or event automation plans that
can affect the resource as well as dynamic troubleshooting information such as

Chapter 1. Overview 39
active status, inventory, and event log. Also, the properties view provides access to
any tasks that can be performed on the selected resource by way of the Actions
menu.

You can access the properties view from any view by selecting a resource and
clicking Actions > Properties.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the properties view.

Figure 9. Properties view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Actions
Contains actions that are applicable to the resource displayed in the
Properties view.

Additional properties
If present, this area provides links to customized properties views provided
by the plug-in.

Resource area
Displays the content of the resource area that varies depending on the
resource that you have chosen to view. While the General page is always
displayed by default, the following additional pages can be provided
depending on the resource type:

40 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


General
Displays the basic resource properties. This page is displayed by
default.
Active Status
Displays any problems, compliance concerns, and other issues.
Applied Activities
Displays any jobs, thresholds, software packages, activations, or
event automation plans that are associated with the resource.
Configuration
Displays any configuration settings that can be edited immediately
or saved as a template for later deployment. For more information,
see “Configuring systems.”
Event Log
Displays any event log data that might be associated with the
resource. For more information, see “Managing the Event Log.”
Inventory
Displays any inventory data that might be associated with the
resource. For more information, see “Collecting and viewing
inventory data.”
Service and Support
Displays whether Service and Support Manager is monitoring the
resource for problems that can be reported automatically to IBM
support. This page is displayed only if you have installed and
activated the Service and Support Manager plug-in. For more
information, see “Service and Support Summary.”

Topology Perspectives views


After you select Navigate Resources from the navigation area, you can drill down
to see relationships among your resources using Topology Perspectives. Select a
resource or group of resources and click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Basic.
The Basic selection provides a topology map that shows key resources that are
related to the selected resource. When viewing a collection of related resources,
you can toggle among the map view, resource view, or relationship view to
manage your resources.

Navigate Resources provides the basic topology perspective that is described in


this section. Other plug-ins available for IBM Systems Director might provide
additional perspectives on this menu. These additional perspectives can provide
specific topological views of resource information:
All Provides a topology map that shows all resources that are related to the
selected resource.
Network
Provides a topology map that shows network-specific resources that are
related to the selected resource, including servers, routers, and network
cards.

For information about additional topology perspectives, see the following topics:
v “Storage topology views”
v “The update topology perspective”
v “Viewing resources in virtualization perspectives”

Note: The properties view is always available for any resource; select the resource
and click Properties.

Chapter 1. Overview 41
Map view:

The map view shows a graphical view of your resources and their relationships.
You can drill down and view the relationships among these resources and other
resources in your environment. You can also view and edit resource properties.
You can click on any displayed system icon or on any relationship line to select a
resource or relationship; then right-click on that selected resource to display a list
of available actions.

You can access the topology map view by selecting one or more resources and then
clicking Actions > Topology Perspectives > Basic. After you have entered the map
view, you can change to the resource view or relationship view. You can access the
map view from the resource view or relationship view by clicking Actions > Map
View.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the map view.

Figure 10. Map view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Toolbar
The toolbar contains the following toolbar buttons and menu:

42 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 2. Toolbar buttons and menu
Icon Name Description
Actions menu Contains actions for the topology as a whole, as well as pop-up menu items
for resources currently selected in the topology. For example, to display the
properties of the currently selected resource, click Actions > Properties.
Search the map Searches the map for resources that have a name containing the word or
phrase provided.
Select Selects resources in the topology.

Zoom Area Selects the part of the topology that you want to increase or decrease in size.

Pan Provides a way for you to drag the topology map to reposition it in the
topology viewport.
Hover Help Displays detailed information about a resource or relationship line when a
mouse hovers over it.
Zoom Out (F2) Incrementally reduces the total area of the topology you want to view.

Zoom In (F3) Incrementally enlarges the total area of topology you want to view.

Zoom To Fit (F4) Scales the entire topology to fit into the topology viewport.

Print Graph Prints the entire topology. A Web browser window opens containing a JPEG
image of the graph. You can either print the graphic using your Web-browser
print feature or save the graphic as a local image.
Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off
for the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.
Print Viewport Prints only the current resources and relationships that are displayed in the
topology viewport. This view might be only a portion of the overall topology.
A Web browser window opens containing a JPEG image of the graph. You can
either print the graphic using your Web-browser print feature or save the
graphic as a local image.
Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off
for the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.
Hide Palette View Hides the support area that displays the palettes.

Show Palette View Shows the support area that displays the palettes.

Map area
Enables you to drill down and view the relationships between resources in
a graphical format. You can right-click on a resource to display a list of
available actions. You can perform mouse actions on the topology map
such as scrolling, repositioning, and resizing. You also can use the
Overview palette to easily reposition the resources and relationships that
are displayed in the map.

Support area
Contains the Overview, Details, and Filter palettes. Click Hide Palette

View on the navigation toolbar to close the support area. Click Show

Chapter 1. Overview 43
Palette View on the navigation toolbar to open the support area. See
“Navigating topology maps” for more information.

Overview palette
Provides a view of the entire topology map with a rectangle surrounding
the portion of the map displayed in the map viewport. You can click and
drag within the Overview palette to reposition the topology. See
“Reordering, minimizing, and hiding palettes” for more information.

Details palette
Provides a way to work with the properties of your resources. When you
select a resource or relationship in the topology, all of its properties appear
in the properties page within the Details palette. To change editable
properties, click Edit to open the Edit Properties window, change the
property, and click OK. See “Viewing properties and details” for more
information.

Filter palette
Provides a way to select the resources that you want to see in the topology
map. You can filter your selections by status and by resource type. When
filtered, the affected resources and relationships are grayed out in the map.
The Filter palette also provides a Results page that displays the results of
searching the map view. See “Filtering the topology map” for more
information.

Table state information


Displays the count of resources or relationships currently shown, the
number selected, and the number filtered. A Depth menu is displayed to
indicate the number of relationships from the root node to the object that is
farthest away from that node. Using this menu, you can select the depth of
related resources that you want to view in the topology.

Resource view:

The resource view displays a list of the resources in the current topology map
view.

You can access the resource view from the map view or relationship view by
clicking Actions > Resource View.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the resource view.

44 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 11. Resource view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Actions
Opens a list of available actions. These actions include those that are
provided in the toolbar and elsewhere on the page as well as actions that
are common to all tables. For common table actions, see “Table navigation
in IBM Systems Director.”
Map View
Click to change to the topology map view of the selected resource
and its related resources.
Resource View
The currently selected view, it displays the resource view of the
selected resource and its related resources.
Relationship View
Click to change to the selected resource, its related resources, and
their relationships.
Depth Indicate the number of relationships from the root node to the
object that is farthest away from that node. Using this menu, you
can select the depth of related resources that you want to view in
the table.

Search the table


Searches the table with the string or phrase provided. When you type a
string in this field, any matching strings in the currently displayed table
are highlighted. Additionally, if you click Search, all of the pages of a table
are searched for the provided string; only the rows that contain the string
are displayed in the table.

Chapter 1. Overview 45
Resource area
The content of the resource area depends on the resources that you have
chosen to view. To see the members of a group, click on a group in the
table. The view drills down to view the group members in the table and
another step is added to the breadcrumb path. For example, if you click
Common-Agent systems in the table, all systems in your environment that
have Common Agent installed will be displayed. The resource view
functions in the same way regardless of the resources that you have chosen
to view.
To perform an action on a resource in the view, right-click the resource and
select an action.

Table state information


Provides navigation between pages of the table. The table view displays a
limited number of entries on a single page. To move to the next page, click
the arrow button at the bottom left portion of the table. The table view
indicates the number of pages of data that is being displayed, for example,
Page 1 of 3. It displays the count of resources or relationships currently
shown, filtered, and the number selected. To change the number of entries
that are displayed in the table, change the Rows per table setting in the
Navigation Preferences page. For more information see “Setting navigation
preferences.”

Tip: To got to a specific page, type a number in the provided entry field
and press Enter. If you specified an number that is not valid, the page in
the table does not change.

Relationship view:

The relationship view shows the relationships among the resources in the current
topology map view. You can see the name of each resource, its type of relationship
to another resource, and the related resource. Before you can access the
relationship view, you must enter Topology Perspectives.

You can access a relationship view from the map view by clicking Actions >
Relationship View.

Note: After you enter the map view, there are two additional alternate views: the
relationship view and the resource view. Having entered the map view you can
change among the three alternate views.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the relationship view.

46 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 12. Relationship view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Actions
Contains actions for the selected resource and its related resources in a
relationship view.
Opens a list of available actions. These actions include those that are
provided in the toolbar and elsewhere on the page as well as actions that
are common to all tables. For common table actions, see “Table navigation
in IBM Systems Director.”
Map View
Click to change to the topology map view of the selected resource
and its related resources.
Resource View
Click to change to the resource view of the selected resource and
its related resources.
Relationship View
The currently selected view, it displays the selected resource, its
related resources, and their relationships.
Depth Indicate the number of relationships from the root node to the
object that is farthest away from that node. Using this menu, you
can select the depth of related resources that you want to view in
the table.

Search the table


Searches the table with the string or phrase provided. When you type a
string in this field, any matching strings in the currently displayed table

Chapter 1. Overview 47
are highlighted. Additionally, if you click Search, all of the pages of a table
are searched for the provided string; only the rows that contain the string
are displayed in the table.

Relationship area
The content of the relationship area depends on the resources that you
have chosen to view. For example, if you click Virtual Servers and Hosts,
the relationships that pertain to your virtual systems and hosts will be
displayed in the relationship view. A relationship between two resources is
displayed in each row. The relationship view functions in the same way
regardless of the types of relationships you have chosen to view.
To perform an action on the resources in the relationship view, right-click
the resource name in a row. The pop-up menu provides a submenu for
each resource in the relationship. Select an action for the resource you want
to affect. The action you select is performed on the selected resource within
the relationship.

Table state information


Provides navigation between pages of the table. The table view displays a
limited number of entries on a single page. To move to the next page, click
the arrow button at the bottom left portion of the table. The table view
indicates the number of pages of data that is being displayed, for example,
Page 1 of 3. It displays the count of resources or relationships currently
shown, filtered, and the number selected. To change the number of entries
that are displayed in the table, change the Rows per table setting in the
Navigation Preferences page. For more information see “Setting navigation
preferences.”

Tip: To got to a specific page, type a number in the provided entry field
and press Enter. If you specified an number that is not valid, the page in
the table does not change.

Finding systems and other resources


A system-management environment can include a large number of systems and
other resources. While you can expand and navigate through groups in Navigate
Resources or within other task tables to find a particular resource, you also can
quickly and easily find a particular resource using Find a Resource.

To locate resources quickly, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Find a
Resource.

Note: Find a Resource is also available on the Welcome page.


2. In the Find a Resource field, type the name of the system and click Find. The
first 10 results of the search are displayed below the field. If there are more
than 10 results, More is displayed.
3. Optional: If there are more than 10 results, you can refine the search results.
4. Optional: To view all the search results, click More. A table is displayed with
the search results.

48 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related reference
lssys command
accesssys command

Viewing resources in the topology perspective


Using topology perspectives, you can view a collection of resources and see their
relationships among each other in multiple ways. If a task provides topology
perspectives, the Topology Perspectives action is available from the Actions menu.
After you enter the topology map view, you can access the resource view and the
relationship view. These views provide alternate ways to view the resources and
relationships that are displayed in the map view.

Note: Do not confuse the resource view and relationship view with the navigation
tables that are used throughout the IBM Systems Director Web interface. These
views display only the resources and relationships that you selected to display in
the topology perspective.

Viewing resources in the map view:

The map view shows a graphical view of your resources and their relationships. If
a resource provides the topology map view as an alternate view, Topology
Perspectives is available in the Actions menu.

To view a topology map, complete the following steps:


1. On a task page, navigate to a resource with relationships that you want to see
in a topology map view and select it.
2. Click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Basic.
3. View the map area. Use the map to drill down and view the relationships
between resources in a graphical format. You can right-click on a resource to
display a list of available actions.
4. Use your mouse to scroll, reposition, resize, and select resources and
relationships, as well as open context menus for resources. Relationships
between resources are displayed as lines, and the direction of the relationship is
shown by the direction of the arrow attached to each line. For information
about determining the type of relationship that a line indicates, see
“Determining a relationship type.” For more information about relationship
lines, see “Topology-relationship descriptions.” For more information about
mouse actions in a topology map, see “Navigating topology maps.”
5. View the Overview palette in the Support area. This palette provides a view of
the entire topology map with a rectangle surrounding the portion of the map
displayed in the map viewport. You can click and drag within the Overview
palette to reposition the topology.
6. View the Details palette in the Support area. This palette provides a way to
work with the properties of your resources. When you select a resource or
relationship in the topology, all of its properties appear in the properties page
within the Details palette. To change editable properties, click Edit to open the
Edit Properties window, change the property, and click OK. See “Viewing
properties and details” for more information.
7. View the Filter palette in the Support area. This palette provides a way to select
the resources that you want to see in the topology map. You can filter your
selections by status and by resource type. When filtered, the affected resources
and relationships are grayed out in the map. The Filter palette also provides a
Results page that displays the results of searching the map view. For more
information, see “Filtering the topology map.”

Chapter 1. Overview 49
Viewing resources in the resource view:

The resource view displays a list of the resources in the current topology map
view.

To view and use the resource view, complete the following steps:
1. In a topology map or relationship table, click Actions > Resource View.
2. In the table view, click a resource in the list to drill down and see more
resources and their relationships.
3. If you want to perform tasks or other actions on your resources, select one or
more resources; then, click Action and click a task.

Tips:
v You also can right-click the resource and select a task from the pop-up menu.
v You can run some tasks on multiple resources simultaneously. To perform an
action on multiple resources, select the resources, right-click on one of the
selected resources, and select a task from the pop-up menu.

Viewing resources in the relationship view:

The relationship view shows the relationships among the resources in the current
topology map view. You can see the name of each resource, its type of relationship
to another resource, and the related resource. Before you can access the
relationship view, you must enter Topology Perspectives.

To view and use the relationship view, complete the following steps:
1. In a topology map or resource view, select a resource and click Actions >
Relationship View. The resource view shows a list of the relationships among
your resources. A relationship between two resources is displayed in each row.
The resource view provides the following information about the relationships:
From In the resource view, the resource that is the starting point of a
relationship. For example, if System A is the host for Virtual Server 1,
then System A is the starting point of the relationship.
Relationship type
The type of relationship between two resources. Relationships might be
physical to physical, physical to virtual, or virtual to virtual. Consider
the following examples:
v A physical to physical relationship might be an IBM Power system to
a disk unit.
v A physical to virtual relationship might be a host system to a virtual
server.
v A virtual to virtual relationship might be a virtual server connected
to a virtual LAN.
To In the resource view, the resource that is the ending point of a
relationship. For example, if System A is the host for Virtual Server 1,
then Virtual Server 1 is the ending point of the relationship.
2. To perform actions on a resource in a relationship, select a relationship row.
Then, click Actions, select either the To or From resource, and click a task.

Tips:
v You also can right-click the resource and select a task from the pop-up menu.
v Use the pop-up menu or the Actions menu to perform actions on either of
the resources represented in the relationship.
50 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Changing between resource views:

After you have entered the topology map view, you can change to alternate views
of the resources and relationships that you chose to view in the topology map
view.

You first must enter the topology map view before you can change to the
relationship table or resource table views. If a task provides the topology map
view, the Topology Perspectives action is available in the Actions menu.

After you enter the topology map view, you can change to the relationship view or
the resource view and then return to the map view. All views are available in the
Actions menu and the view that you are currently using is checked.

Also, the properties view is always available from the Actions menu. Select a
resource and then click Actions > Properties.

When selecting a view, consider the following information:


v In the map view, you can view related resources of multiple types, including
their status information. Also, you can control the levels of resources that you
view. For example, if you choose to view three levels, the map displays all
resources that are up to three levels away from the primary resource, such as a
server, its RAID controller, and any attached RAID physical drives.
v In the resource view, you can view all the resources from the map view, but in a
table that is easier to filter and sort.
v In the relationship view, you can view the types of relationships that exist
between the resources in the map view.
v In the properties view, you can view all the troubleshooting information for a
resource in one place.

Changing the default resource view:

You can customize the view that you want displayed when you open a resource in
the topology map. This setting is provided for accessibility requirements and
screen reader support; the setting affects only the view that is shown when the
resource is opened. After you have opened the resource, you can switch to a
different view. By default, this option is not selected; therefore, the topology view
is the default view. When this setting is selected, the topology view is not initially
displayed when you select Topology Perspectives.

To set the default resource view, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Navigation Preferences.
2. On the Navigation Preferences page, select or clear Use the resource table view
as the default view for topology maps.
3. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the
system-defined values, click Restore Defaults. You still must click OK or
Apply to save the restored settings.

Chapter 1. Overview 51
How do I view my inventory?
In IBM Director Console version 5.20, you could view inventory by dragging the
task onto a managed system or group. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface,
the Inventory section of the navigation area provides a task to view and collect
inventory for a system or group.

You can choose from several predefined inventory profiles that filter only the
inventory items that you want to display.

Collecting inventory
Use the View and Collect Inventory task to collect inventory data for systems that
have already been discovered and accessed by IBM Systems Director Server.

Before you can view inventory for a resource, you must discover that resource
using System Discovery. Inventory collection uses inventory collection profiles. You
can use an existing profile to collect inventory for a system. If the inventory
collection profile does not exist for the type of inventory data you want to collect,
you must first create the inventory collection profile and make sure that it contains
the appropriate settings.

Note: Inventory is displayed for only those systems that are in a state other than
no access. To change the access state, select the system or systems and click
Actions > Security > Request Access.

To collect inventory for one or more systems, perform the following steps:
1. Open the View and Collect Inventory page using either of these two methods:
v On the Welcome page, click View and collect inventory under Optional
tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click View and Collect Inventory.
The View and Collect Inventory page is displayed.
2. In the Target Systems list, select the system for which you want to view or
collect inventory data. If the target system that you want to view is not in the
target systems list, perform the following steps to add the system to the list.
a. Click Browse to open the Context Chooser. The Context Chooser displays a
list of system groups.
b. In the list of groups, drill down to the individual target system for which
you want to view inventory data in the group that contains that target
system.

Note: You can select the entire group or you can drill down to select
individual target systems as targets within a group.
c. Select one or more target systems that you want to add.
d. Click Add. The selected target systems are displayed in the Selected list.
e. Click OK.
3. In the View by list, select the inventory profile that you want to use.
4. Click Collect Inventory. The Run - Collect Inventory page is displayed.
5. Use the Run - Collect Inventory page to set up optional functions and options
of your inventory collection task:
Schedule
Use the Schedule tab to set the inventory collection task to run

52 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


immediately or at a specified time and date in the future. You can also
schedule the task to repeat at a specified frequency.
Notification
Use the Notification tab to specify options for an email notification that
you can receive as the inventory collection process progresses.
Options
Use the Options tab to specify the time to use for the system time and
how to handle unavailable systems.
6. When you are finished with the Run - Collect Inventory page, click OK. An
inventory collection job is created and an informational message is displayed
about the job.

Note: Click Display Properties if you want to view the properties of the job.
The Active and Scheduled Jobs page is displayed and provides information
about the job including status, progress, a list of targets, a history, and error
logs.

When inventory collection is completed, you can view the inventory data list and
table by clicking Refresh View.

Viewing inventory
Use the View and Collect Inventory task to view and manage an extended set of
resources and relationships for systems that have already been discovered. The
inventory that is displayed includes physical, logical, and virtual hardware;
software applications, operating systems, middleware, firmware, BIOS, and
diagnostic information; network information; and system-contained resources. Also,
IBM Systems Director displays the inventory data for the inventory items that are
collected.

Before you can view inventory data for a resource, you must collect the inventory
data for that resource.

Note: Inventory is displayed for only those systems that are in a state other than
no access. To change the access state, select the system or systems and click
Actions > Security > Request Access.

To display inventory data for a resource, complete the following steps:


1. Open the View and Collect Inventory page using either of these two methods:
v On the Welcome page, click View and collect inventory under Optional
tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click View and Collect Inventory.
The View and Collect Inventory page is displayed.
2. In the Target Systems list, select the system for which you want to view or
collect inventory data. If the target system that you want to view is not in the
target systems list, perform the following steps to add the system to the list.
a. Click Browse to open the Context Chooser. The Context Chooser displays a
list of system groups.
b. In the list of groups, drill down to the individual target system for which
you want to view inventory data in the group that contains that target
system.

Chapter 1. Overview 53
Note: You can select the entire group or you can drill down to select
individual target systems as targets within a group.
c. Select one or more target systems that you want to add.
d. Click Add. The selected target systems are displayed in the Selected list.
e. Click OK.
3. In the View by list, select the inventory profile that you want to use.
4. Click Refresh View. The inventory data for the selected resource is displayed.

Note: If you click Refresh View before any inventory has been collected by IBM
Systems Director Server, an empty table is displayed and the Last collected
value will be none. Before you try to view inventory, make sure that you
discover the applicable resources and collect the inventory for them.

Where are my tasks?


You can use this topic to map some common tasks in IBM Director 5.20 to their
location in the IBM Systems Director 6.x interface.

The following table shows a list of tasks in IBM Director 5.20, and the
corresponding path to access those tasks in IBM Systems Director 6.x. For
step-by-step instructions for accessing a task in IBM Systems Director 6.x, click the
applicable link.

5.20 tasks and options How to access equivalent 6.x tasks


Groups > All Managed Objects Navigate Resources > All systems
Discover systems On the Welcome page, click System
Discovery
Event Action Plans Automation > Automation Plans
Event Log Right-click a system and select System
Status and Health > Event Log
File Transfer Right-click a system and select System
Configuration > Remote Access > File
Management
Hardware Status System Status and Health > Health
Summary
Inventory Right-click a system and select Inventory >
View and Collect Inventory
Process Management Automation > Command Automation
Remote Control Right-click a system and select System
Configuration > Remote Access > Remote
Control
Remote Session Right-click a system and select System
Configuration > Remote Access > Remote
Command Line
Resource Monitors Right-click a system and select Monitor
Resources
ServeRAID Manager System Configuration > External Storage
Applications
Scheduler Right-click a system and select a task. If the
task can be scheduled, the window is
displayed for creating a schedule

54 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


5.20 tasks and options How to access equivalent 6.x tasks
Software Distribution Release Management > Updates
Note: Most functions from Software
Distribution (Standard Edition) are now
provided by Updates.

How do I start tasks?


In IBM Director Console version 5.20, you clicked tasks in the Tasks pane, dragged
tasks from the Tasks pane to a system or group, dragged systems or a group to a
task, or right-clicked a system. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you no
longer drag tasks, systems, or anything else. Instead, tasks are available in the
navigation area and the content area; when you right-click a resource a robust set
of applicable tasks is displayed.

Start a task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area in any of
the following ways:
v Click Find a Task. On the Find a Task page, you can search for and start a
specific task. For more information, see “Finding a task.”

Note: You can select a noninteractive task and click Actions > Run to schedule
the task to start immediately or at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”
v Expand the sections in the navigation pane to view and click available tasks.
v Expand Task Management and click External Application Launch. You can
configure other applications to run from the IBM Systems Director Web
interface. For more information, see “Integrating external applications.”
v Click My Startup Pages. Any pages that you have saved to your Startup page
are displayed here. A saved page includes any tasks that can be run from that
page. For more information, see “Customizing the Web interface.”
v Click any of the tasks available in the navigation area.

Start a task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface content area in any of the
following ways:
v In a table view, right-click a resource and select a task.

Tip: You can run some tasks on multiple resources simultaneously. To perform a
task on multiple resources, select one or more resources. Then, right-click one of
the selected resources and select a task.
v In a table or topology map view, select one or more resources. Then, click
Actions and click a task.
v In the topology map view, right-click a resource and select a task.
v In the topology map view, select the resource. Then, in the Details palette,
right-click the resource and select a task.
v For applicable tasks, you can select Run Now or Schedule. You can schedule a
task to start immediately or at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”

How do I create a hardware event action plan?


You can create an event automation plan specifically for monitoring hardware
events from a system or group of systems.

Chapter 1. Overview 55
To create a hardware event automation plan, complete the following steps:
1. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab if the Manage page is not
displayed.
2. In the Automation Manager section, click Automation Plans.
3. On the Event Automation Plans page, click Create.
4. In the Event Automation Plan wizard, the Welcome page is displayed. Click
Next.
5. On the Name and description page, type a descriptive name for the event
automation plan that you are creating. Optionally, you also can type a
description of the plan. Click Next.
6. On the Targets page, select the systems that the event automation plan will
monitor for specific generated events. Select the systems in the Available list
and click Add > to move them to the Selected list. Click Next.
7. On the Events page, select Common from the Events list.
8. In the Event types list, select the categories of common events that you want
to monitor. You can select more than one category of events; however, you
must provide information for some of the categories. Provide this information
before you select another category of events. The following list describes the
hardware-related categories of common events that you can select as well as
the information each set requires.
Hardware
These categories of events are generated by the following hardware
and hardware components: processors (CPUs), disks, fans, memory,
network and switches, power supplies, security, servers, RAID or
storage arrays, and blade servers. None of these categories provide
additional settings.
Monitors
These events are generated by the monitors for microprocessor use,
memory use, and disk use. When you select one of these categories of
events, you must set the threshold values for the monitors. Then, a
threshold monitor is automatically created on the specified systems for
you. For more information, see “Managing monitors” and “Managing
thresholds.”
Table 3. Categories of monitor events and available threshold settings
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
Processor use If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
check box. Then, select the percentage of processor use for the threshold.
When processor use is equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the
monitor will generate a Processor Use event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the percentage of processor use for the threshold.
When processor use is equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the
monitor will generate a Processor Use event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

56 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 3. Categories of monitor events and available threshold settings (continued)
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
Memory use If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
check box. Then, select the amount of memory, in MB, to monitor for the
threshold. When the memory use is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor will generate a Memory Use event with a
critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the amount of memory, in MB, to monitor for the
threshold. When the memory use is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor will generate a Memory Use event with a
warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Disk use If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
check box. Then, select the percentage of disk capacity for the threshold.
When the used disk capacity is equal to or greater than the threshold
setting, the monitor will generate a Disk Use event with a critical
severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the percentage of disk capacity for the threshold.
When the used disk capacity is equal to or greater than the threshold
setting, the monitor will generate a Disk Use event with a warning
severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

9. When you are satisfied with the specified event filters, click Next.
10. On the Events actions page, click Create.
11. In the Create Actions window, select an event action.
In most event automation plans, you will use one or more of the following
basic event actions:
v Send an alphanumeric page (using TAP)
v Send an e-mail (Internet SMTP)
v Send an e-mail to a mobile phone
v Start a program on a system
v Start a program on the management server
v Start a program on the system that generated the event
For information about event action types, see “Event actions.”
12. Click OK.
13. Complete the fields for the event action that you selected. For some event
action types, you can include event-specific information as part of the text
message. Including event information is referred to as event-data substitution.
You can use event-data-substitution variables to customize event actions. For
more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
14. If you selected a basic event action, you can determine whether your settings
are correct by clicking Test.
15. If you selected a basic event action and you are satisfied with the settings,
click OK to save the event action.
16. When you are satisfied with your selected event actions, click Next. The new
event action is displayed in the Event action page.

Chapter 1. Overview 57
Note: You can create and select more than one type of event action for your
event automation plan.
17. On the Time range page, click All day (24 x 7) to enable the plan to be active
all the time.
18. Click Next.
19. On the Summary page, verify the details of the event automation plan. If you
need to make changes, click < Back.
20. When you are done editing the event automation plan, click Finish.

58 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Chapter 2. Using the IBM Systems Director Web interface
IBM Systems Director provides the Web interface through which you can view
resources and use tasks in your systems-management environment. This section
provides information about the Web interface, including the Welcome page, the
different ways to view resources, and how to work with tables and topology maps
that are used in these different views; how to find resources; how to create and
work with groups of resources; how to find and start tasks; how to schedule tasks,
and much more.

In addition to these fundamental tasks, IBM Systems Director provides the


following tasks and features through plug-ins that are already installed or can be
separately installed. For information about available plug-ins, see “Installation.”
v Discovery and inventory collection (see “Discovering systems and collecting
inventory data”)
v Configuring systems (see “Configuring systems”)
v System status, health, event logs, and active status events (see “Monitoring
system status and health”)
v Event automation plans, event filters, and event actions (see “Automating
tasks”)
v Management and installation of updates to existing software products and
firmware, external network and storage switches, as well as external storage
servers (see “Updating systems”)
v A number of security features that include authentication and
user-administration options (see “Security”)

Logging into IBM Systems Director Server


You can log into IBM Systems Director Server by way of the Web interface to use
the features and functions that IBM Systems Director provides.

To log into IBM Systems Director Server, complete the following steps:
1. Point your browser to the following URL:
http://System_Name:Port_Number/ibm/console
where System_Name is the name of the system on which IBM Systems Director
Server is installed and Port_Number is the first (lower) of two consecutive port
numbers that you specified for the Web server to use. The default ports for the
Web server are 8421 and 8422. If you use port 8422, make sure that you specify
https to indicate a secure port.
2. Type the user ID and password that correspond to an authorized IBM Systems
Director administrator user ID and password.
3. Click Log in.

Note: A security alert window might be displayed before logging in. This is
due to incorrect configuration of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. For
information see “Configuring Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) between IBM Systems
Director and the Web browser client.”

Notes:

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 59


1. For optimal performance, it is recommended that no more than 30 users log on
to IBM Systems Director Server at one time.
2. If you do not actively use the IBM Systems Director Web interface for 30
minutes, the automatic-timeout feature will log out your user ID from IBM
Systems Director Server.

Logging out of IBM Systems Director Server


When you are finished using IBM Systems Director, you can log out. To log off of
IBM Systems Director Server, in the Web interface, click Logout in the upper-right
corner.

Note: If you do not actively use the IBM Systems Director Web interface for 30
minutes, the automatic-timeout feature will log out your user ID from IBM
Systems Director Server.

Enabling multisession support


An authorized user can access multiple user sessions.

To enable multisession support, follow these steps:


1. Log out of the IBM Systems Director Server by clicking Logout in the
upper-right corner of the IBM Systems Director Web interface.
2. Open the <Director root>/lwi/runtime/isc/consoleProperties.xml file.
3. Update the ENABLE.CONCURRENT.LOGIN property to true:
<consoleproperties:console-property id="ENABLE.CONCURRENT.LOGIN" value="true">
4. Save the file.
5. Log back into the IBM Systems Director Server.

When a user is logged on more than once, you will see a number, such as (2), next
to the user's state on the Users page.

Navigating the Web interface


Navigating in the Web interface, you can access tasks, resources, and data in IBM
Systems Director. The interface also provides ways to customize itself as well as
help information.

The Web interface


IBM Systems Director provides tasks and unique views to help you manage your
systems-management environment. You can access all tasks available in IBM
Systems Director and you can launch tasks in several other management tools. You
can access your resources using Navigate Resources.

60 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 13. Web interface

Navigation area
The navigation area of IBM Systems Director Web interface provides
categories of tasks that can vary depending on your IBM Systems Director
installation. The navigation provides links to tasks you can perform on
your resources. Examples of typical tasks might include Navigate
Resources, Inventory, Health Summary, and Automation and Settings.

Content area
When you open the Web interface, by default you see the Welcome page
for IBM Systems Director in the content area. The content area changes
depending on the item you select in the navigation area. You can
customize aspects of the content area using the Navigation Preferences. For
more information, see “Setting navigation preferences.”

View list
In the navigation area, this list provides the following alternate view
selections:

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 61


All tasks
Displays all the tasks that are available in your IBM Systems
Director installation. This is the default view.
My tasks
Displays a customized list of tasks. For more information, see
“Customizing the Web interface.”
IBM Systems Director
Displays only IBM Systems Director tasks.

Select Action list


This list provides the following ways to work with task pages:
My Startup Pages
Customizes the pages that are started automatically when you log
in to IBM Systems Director, the page that is displayed first of these
automatically started pages, and the default navigation area view.
For more information, see “Customizing the Web interface.”
Manage Open Pages
Provides a way to manage and close one or more open pages.
Close Page
Closes the page that you are viewing.

Help
Displays the help system.

Logout
Logs out of IBM Systems Director.

Customizing the Web interface


The IBM Systems Director Web interface provides settings that you can use to
customize the Web interface to meet your specific needs. The My Tasks feature
provides a way to customize the tasks that are displayed in the navigation area. By
saving task pages to My Startup Pages, you can set one or more pages to open
automatically when you log in to IBM Systems Director, including a setting for the
default page that is displayed first among all of the automatically started pages.
Also, you can set the view that is displayed in the navigation area.

Note: In addition to these settings, you can customize navigation preferences for
table and topology views. For information see “Setting navigation preferences.”

To customize the Web interface, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, select My tasks from the View
list.
2. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Edit 'My tasks'.
3. On the My Tasks page, select the tasks that you want to display in the
navigation area.
4. Click Apply. The selected tasks are displayed in the navigation area.
5. In IBM Systems Director, open a task page that you want to start
automatically when you log in to IBM Systems Director.
6. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, click My Startup Pages from the
Select Action list.
7. On the Add to My Startup Pages page, click OK to save the selected page.

62 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


8. To add any other task pages that you want to start automatically, repeat steps
5 on page 62 - 7 on page 62.
9. To view your saved task pages, click My Startup Pages in the IBM Systems
Director navigation area. On the My Startup Pages page, the saved tasks are
displayed in the table.
10. Click Default to set the default page to display first among all of the
automatically started task pages.
11. If you decide that you do not want a page to start automatically, select that
task and click Remove.
12. To set your My tasks selections as the default navigation area view, select My
Tasks from the Console navigation default view list. You always can change
the navigation area view by using the View list. Select All Tasks to see all
IBM Systems Director tasks.
13. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel.

Any changes take effect the next time you log in to IBM Systems Director.

Changing the welcome message on the login screen


The default herald contains the welcome message that displays with the login
prompt for all users. Users with Administrator authority can change the welcome
message using the dircli CLI command.
1. Create a UTF-8 file on the system. The file will contain the welcome message
and must be named loginMessage.properties.
2. Edit the file and add the following line, substituting your custom text:
loginMessage=This is the text that will appear on the login page.

Note: When creating loginMessage.properties, characters need to be specified


with valid ISO 8859-1 Unicode-escape sequences.
3. Save and exit the file.
4. On the host system, run the following command:
dircli chgloginmsg -f C:\loginMessage.properties

The C:\loginMessage.properties file is copied to the install root in the following


path:
<Director root>/lwi/runtime/isc/loginMessage

The new message appears immediately for future login attempts, you do not need
to restart the server.
Related reference
“Command-task file parameters” on page 137

Managing and closing open pages in the Web interface


The IBM Systems Director Web interface provides several ways to manage and
close open pages.

The Web interface provides page controls in the upper-right corner in the Select
Action list. Also, when you have more page tabs that can be displayed in the
width of the Web interface, an arrow is displayed that you can click to view the
additional tabs.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 63


Figure 14. Select Action list

To manage and close open pages, complete any of the following steps:
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, click Manage Open Pages from the
Select Action list that is located in the upper-right corner of the Web interface
content area. On the Manage Open Pages page, you can close all pages by
clicking Close All Pages, close selected pages by selecting one or more pages
and clicking Close Page, or view a selected page by clicking the page link.
v To close a page that you are viewing, click Close Page from the Select Action
list.
v To close a page, click X on the page tab.
v When applicable, click the OK or Cancel buttons on the page.

Viewing help in the Web interface


The IBM Systems Director Web interface provides several ways to view help.

To view help, complete any of the following steps:


v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, click Help in the upper-right corner.
The IBM Systems Director help system opens in a new Web browser window.
v In a task page, click ? in the upper-right corner of the page.
v In a task window or wizard, click ? in the upper-right corner of the window or
wizard.
v When applicable, click the Help button on the page.

Navigating IBM Systems Director by way of the Welcome page


Using the IBM Systems Director Welcome page, you can navigate to first-time
setup steps, make sure IBM Systems Director and its plug-ins are setup and
configured, manage your environment from plug-in Summary pages, and access
tutorials to expand your skills with IBM Systems Director.
Related concepts

eLearning: Navigating in IBM Systems Director

IBM Systems Director Welcome page


Use the IBM Systems Director Welcome page to complete first-time setup steps,
make sure IBM Systems Director and its plug-ins are setup and configured,
manage your environment from plug-in summary pages, and access information
center topics and tutorials to expand your skills with IBM Systems Director.

64 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 15. The Welcome page displaying the Start, Manage, and Learn tabs

The following links are available at the top of the Welcome page:

Find a resource
Provides a way to quickly and easily find one or more resources in your
systems-management environment.

Find a task
Provides a way to quickly and easily find any task in IBM Systems
Director.

I'm a 5.20 user; how do I use 6.x?


Opens the IBM Systems Director information center to provide information
that describes how to use IBM Systems Director 6.x compared to the tasks
in IBM Director version 5.20. This information is specifically designed for
IBM Director version 5.20 users that want to understand how to complete
familiar tasks using the new IBM Systems Director Web interface.

About
Displays the version of your IBM Systems Director installation.

Web resources
Displays other information resources that are available on the Web.

Update IBM Systems Director Server


Checks for and displays any updates that are available from the IBM Web
site that are required by IBM Systems Director Server.

The Start page


Provides the tasks to perform getting started discovery (also called initial
discovery) in your systems-management environment, request access to your
discovered resources, and collect inventory from your resources. Then, use the next
steps provided on this page to make IBM Systems Director more productive. A
user must have the AllPermission permission to view this page; otherwise, it is not
displayed. For more information, see “Security.”

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 65


Figure 16. The Welcome page interface displaying the Start page

Getting Started
Provides tasks and information that you can use to get started with IBM
Systems Director.

66 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Discover
Performs getting started discovery in your systems-management
environment. This discovery method searches the entire subnet of the
server on which IBM Systems Director Server is installed. It utilizes all the
protocols that IBM Systems Director uses to discover systems.

Status chart
Provides status information about resources that IBM Systems Director has
discovered. This information includes the number of operating systems
that are managed by way of the Common Agent, Platform Agent, or no
agent; the number of systems to which you do not have access, and the
number of systems on which inventory has not been collected. Click any of
these links to display detailed information about the affected systems and
resources.

Optional tasks
Provides optional tasks for getting started including discovery, inventory,
and navigate resources.

Next Steps
Provides typical tasks for setting up IBM Systems Director, including
registering with IBM, creating thresholds and event automation plans,
checking for updates, installing Common Agent on systems, setting up
security, and configuring your systems.

The Manage page


Provides information that you can use to determine whether IBM Systems Director
and its plug-ins are ready to use. The message associated with each plug-in
changes based on whether the plug-in is ready to use. The links provided for each
plug-in include the plug-in Summary page on which you have quick access to
your environment's data and applicable tasks. If a plug-in is not ready to use, this
page provides links to the applicable tasks that you must perform to complete
setup or configuration of the plug-in. After the getting started discovery (also
called initial discovery) is completed, the Manage page is displayed by default
when you view the Welcome page.

The Manage tab includes an icon that is displayed if any problems exist with one
or more plug-ins.

Note: The Manage page displays only the plug-ins that the user is authorized to
use. If a user is not authorized to use any plug-ins, the Manage page is not
displayed.

Figure 17. The Manage tab with the Information icon

The icon displayed is tied to the plug-in states that are displayed on the Manage
page:

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 67


If one or more plug-ins are in an Error state, the Error-connecting icon is
displayed on the Manage tab.

If one or more plug-ins are in the Setup-required state, the Setup-required


icon is displayed on the Manage tab.
No icon

If all plug-ins are in the ready state or collecting-data state ,


then no icon is displayed on the Manage tab.

68 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 18. The Welcome page interface displaying the Manage page

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 69


Plug-in title
Click the plug-in title to display the plug-in summary page. The summary
page provides tasks and information that you typically use in that plug-in.

Readiness icons
Each plug-in title has one of the following icons next to its name denoting
whether the plug-in is ready for use:

Ready
The plug-in is correctly installed and configured.

Collecting data
The process to determine whether a plug-in is ready to use has
started and might take a long time. To determine when the plug-in
is ready, click Refresh (located at the bottom of the page) and if
the plug-in is ready the status icon will change.

Setup required
The plug-in is not set up correctly or the set up is currently
incomplete. A message and additional links are displayed
providing information about any required setup, such as additional
configuring, enabling of firewall support, identifying applicable
types of servers required by that plug-in, or other setup activities.

Error connecting
The plug-in has failed to connect to the applicable destination,
which might be the management server, a Web site, or another
destination.

Plug-in links
Each plug-in section provides links that you can use to complete any
configuration or setup activities.

Refresh
Click to refresh the ready-for-use information. It also reports that last time
the information was refreshed.

The Learn page


Provides a list of available tutorials and other information center links. If the link
is to a tutorial, the link opens a tutorial section in the “Learning and tutorials”
section of the IBM Systems Director information center. Hover help for each link
provides a description for that tutorial.

70 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 19. The Welcome page interface displaying the Learn page

This page provides the following information:

Tutorial links
Provides links to available tutorials for installed plug-ins.

Tip: The tutorials are launched from the Internet. You must have access to
the Internet to view them. For more information about e-learning and
tutorials, see “Learning and tutorials.”

Hover help
Provides a description for each tutorial.

The Welcome banner area


Starting with IBM Systems Director version 6.2, the Welcome banner area provides
links to the Active Status (compliance) page, where you can view the active
compliance issues for all discovered systems and the Problems page, where you
can view the active problems for all discovered systems.

In the Welcome banner area, you can get a quick view of system status by viewing
the following icons next to Compliance or Problems:

v Warning

v Critical

For more detailed information, click Compliance, to view the Active Status
(compliance) page or click Problems to view the Problems page.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 71


System severity states
Systems with Common Agent or Platform Agent installed on them generate events
that numerically indicate their health status to IBM Systems Director Server. The
numeric values indicated by the event correspond to one of three severity levels in
IBM Systems Director: critical, warning, or informational.

Each applicable IBM Systems Director system generates a numeric value that aligns
it with one of the following three severity levels:
Critical
A system that has generated an event with a severity of 5 or 6 is the most
severe and is identified in IBM Systems Director as being in a Critical state.
These systems have already lost or will imminently lose data, have had
system down time, or are on the verge of losing some other services.
System operation might be impacted if the problem is left uncorrected.
Warning
A system that has generated an event with a severity of 3 or 4 is identified
in IBM Systems Director as being in a Warning state. These systems can
escalate to a Critical state if left uncorrected. System operation might not
be impacted and normal use of the hardware can continue.
Informational
A system that has generated an event with a severity of 1 or 2 is identified
in IBM Systems Director as being in an Informational state. These systems
are operating normally and typically, no action is required.

Starting work in IBM Systems Director


Before IBM Systems Director can manage your systems, the systems must be
discovered. Using the Welcome page, you can set up IBM Systems Director for use
for the first time.

To get started with IBM Systems Director, complete the following steps:
1. If this is the first time using IBM Systems Director, the Welcome page is
displayed automatically. Otherwise, in the IBM Systems Director navigation
area, click Welcome.
2. On the IBM Systems Director Welcome page, view the Getting Started section
on the Start page. This section provides status information about resources that
IBM Systems Director has discovered. This information includes the number of
operating systems that are managed by way of the Common Agent, Platform
Agent, or no agent; the number of systems to which you do not have access,
and the number of systems on which inventory has not been collected. Click
any of these links to display detailed information about the affected systems
and resources.

Note: If you have not performed discovery yet, discovery and system access
information is reported only for the management server.
In the Optional tasks area, the tasks that are commonly used when setting up
IBM Systems Director are provided.
3. View the Next Steps section on the Start page. This section provides typical
tasks for setting up IBM Systems Director, including registering with IBM,
creating thresholds and event automation plans, checking for updates, installing
Common Agent on systems, setting up security, and configuring your systems.

72 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Learning about the product
There are several ways to learn about IBM Systems Director.

You can learn more about IBM Systems Director in the following ways:
v In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome. On the Welcome
page, click the Learn tab. View the available tutorials to expand your skills with
IBM Systems Director.
v On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. For each plug-in, click the plug-in
section heading to view its Summary page.
v Go to the IBM Systems Director information center at http://
publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jsp to review scenarios
and other information resources.
v Go to the IBM Systems Director customer forum. For more information, see
“Accessing the IBM Systems Director customer forum.”
v To familiarize yourself with other information resources available on the Web,
click Related Web Resources.

Checking IBM Systems Director readiness


You can determine whether the plug-ins in your IBM Systems Director installation
are ready for use by viewing the Welcome page.

To determine whether plug-ins are ready for use, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab.
3. Browse the Manage page to determine the plug-ins that are in your IBM
Systems Director installation and whether they are ready for use. Each plug-in
has one of the following icons beside its name denoting whether the plug-in is
ready for use or requires additional setup or configuration:

Ready
The plug-in is correctly installed and configured.

Collecting data
The process to determine whether a plug-in is ready to use has started
and might take a long time. To determine when the plug-in is ready,
click Refresh (located at the bottom of the page) and if the plug-in is
ready the status icon will change.

Setup required
The plug-in is not set up correctly or the set up is currently incomplete.
A message and additional links are displayed providing information
about any required setup, such as additional configuring, enabling of
firewall support, identifying applicable types of servers required by
that plug-in, or other setup activities.

Error connecting
The plug-in has failed to connect to the applicable destination, which
might be the management server, a Web site, or another destination.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 73


4. If a plug-in reports that it has a problem, click the displayed links to complete
the setup and configuration.
5. Complete the setup tasks listed for the plug-in.
6. On the Manage page, click Refresh. IBM Systems Director checks the plug-in.
The affected plug-in is now ready to use and its status is updated.

Viewing updates
You can view updates that you can choose to apply to your IBM Systems Director
environment.

To view updates, in the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome to
view the Welcome page and complete any of the following steps:
v On the Welcome page, in the upper right-corner, click Update IBM Systems
Director. The Update IBM Systems Director page is displayed.
v On the Start page, in the Next Steps section, click Check for updates on
discovered systems.
1. On the Check for Updates page, select the types of updates for which you
want check and click OK. Using the Check for Updates page, you can start
managing updates in the following ways:
– Select the systems to keep in compliance with the latest updates.
– Create an update group to contain the updates for your selected systems.
– Configure a connection to the Internet.
– Run or schedule a check for updates.
2. In the Run - Check for Updates window, click OK to start Check for Updates
immediately. IBM Systems Director checks for any updates that are available
from the IBM Web site. A message is displayed stating that the Check for
Updates has run.
3. Click Show Updates. The Show Updates page is displayed.
v On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. On the Manage page, view the
Update Manager section and click Check for Updates. The Check for Updates
page described in the preceding step is displayed.

Viewing tutorials
You can view tutorials to learn quickly how to use tasks and feature provided by
IBM Systems Director.

To view tutorials, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Learn tab. The Learn page is displayed with
the available tutorials for the installed plug-ins. Hover help provides a
description for each tutorial.
3. Click the tutorial link for the task about which you want to learn.

Tip: The tutorials are launched from the Internet. You must have access to the
Internet to view them. For more information about e-learning and tutorials, see
“Learning and tutorials.”

If you have trouble viewing a tutorial, make sure that you install version 8.0 or
later of Adobe Flash Player from www.adobe.com/downloads/ and ensure that
your browser security settings are not preventing the interactive content from
displaying. Also, make sure that the system on which you install the IBM Systems
Director components meets the defined hardware requirements.

74 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts

Learning and tutorials

Viewing the IBM Systems Director Server summary


You can view a summary of all activity within the past 30 days that is associated
with IBM Systems Director Server and the server on which it is running
(management server). Note that information on this page is refreshed automatically
when there are any changes.

To view the IBM Systems Director Server summary, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab.
3. On the Welcome page, scroll to the IBM Systems Director Server section of the
page and click the IBM Systems Director Server section heading. The IBM
Systems Director Server summary is displayed.
4. View the IBM Systems Director status section. This section provides the
following information:
v The management server name. Click the name to view the properties page
for the server.
v The current status for IBM Systems Director Server and, if applicable, its last
restart date and time. The Status field displays a local system health rating
that warns you when the IBM Systems Director Server is experiencing
problems that could jeopardize performance or stability. If a problem is
detected, a message ID is also provided. When you can click on the message
ID, a new window opens with a recommended operator response.
v The number of systems discovered. Click this link to display the discovered
systems.
v The type of authentication used.
v The known ports that are in use. Click All possible ports to view
information about ports that IBM Systems Director might use.

Note: This link opens the IBM Systems Director information center and
requires Internet access.
v The location of any trace and error logs.
v The database version number and driver that is installed.
v Current management server statistics: processor use, memory use, storage
use, and the number of active users.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
System discovery
Click System discovery to discover systems by specifying a single IP
address, host name, or IP address range or by using a discovery
profile.
Collect and view inventory
Click Collect and view inventory to open the View and Collect
Inventory task, with which you can collect the most current
inventory from a resource or view the inventory of a resource.
Find a task
Click Find a task to quickly and easily find any task. Then, you can
run the selected task.
Find a resource
Click Find a resource to quickly and easily find a particular resource.
Navigate resources
Click Navigate Resources to view, work with, and navigate among

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 75


resources in your systems-management environment, including view
and manage discovery options on an individual resource level.
5. View the Users and roles section. This section provides the following
information:
v The number of users that do not have access to any resources. Click this link
to view the Users page that displays the affected users.
v The number of users that are defined in your IBM Systems Director Server
environment. Click this link to view the Users page that displays the defined
users.
v The number of roles that are defined in your IBM Systems Director Server
environment. Click this link to view the Roles page.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
Manage Users
Click Manage Users to specify basic properties for each authorized
user and assign access to each user using roles.
Manage Roles
Click Manage Roles to create, edit, or delete roles that are used to
assign access to users.
Add a role
Click Add a role to create a role.

You also can reach the summary page by using Find a Task. For more information,
see “Finding a task.”
Related reference

All possible ports

Finding and navigating resources


The IBM Systems Director Web interface provides many ways to navigate
resources. This section includes information about finding resources; the available
ways to view resources and resource information, including topology maps and
Topology Perspectives; working with resources in tables; and working with
resources in topology maps.

Topology Perspectives is a powerful navigation feature. When you select this


action, you can view a resource and its relationships to other resources in a
graphical display. For more information, see “Topology Perspectives views,”
“Viewing resources in the topology perspective,” and “Working with topology
maps.”

The Web interface also provides navigational actions for resources by way of the
Actions menu and the complementary pop-up menu that is displayed when you
right-click a resource. These actions vary depending on the resource. When you
click a resource, the default navigational task occurs; the default task, too, can vary
depending on the resource. For example, if you click a group, the members of that
group are displayed. When you right-click a group, the first navigational action
provided in the pop-up menu is View Members, which displays the members of
the group. If you click a resource, the Properties page for that resource is
displayed. When you right-click a resource, Properties is provided at the bottom of
the pop-up menu.

The menu also provides the following navigational actions:


v When you select a resource, the Related Resources menu item provides a list of
any and all resources that are related to the currently selected resource.

76 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v When you view members of a group, the menu provides group-specific actions.
For example, while viewing a member of the group called All My Linux Servers,
you can click Actions > All My Linux Servers to view a submenu of
appropriate actions for that group.

As you navigate from one resource to another or drill down from a resource to its
subcomponents, a breadcrumb path is displayed at the top of the page as a
navigational signpost. The breadcrumb path is extended each time you drill down.
If you navigate to a related resource, the breadcrumb path is updated to the
current location. The last link in the path identifies your current location in the
resource navigation. If you right-click on this last link, a menu is displayed. This
menu provides the same options as the Actions menu at this current location. The
following examples illustrate specific resources and the pop-up menus that are
displayed when you right-click the breadcrumb path:
v When you view members of a group, the breadcrumb path displays the menu
associated with that group.
v When you view blade servers in a chassis, the breadcrumb path displays the
menu associated with the chassis.
v When you view a resource in a topology map, the breadcrumb path displays the
menu associated with that resource.
Related concepts

eLearning: Navigating in IBM Systems Director


Related reference
lsgp command
accesssys command

Resource views
The IBM Systems Director Web interface provides a number of ways to view
information about your resources as well as manage the resources. The most
typical ways are through tables and the properties view. Most tasks and plug-ins
provide information and function using tables, although the amount of information
and function varies depending on the task or plug-in. In this section, Navigate
Resources is used to describe navigating tables in general.

Information and functions also are provided using the properties view. The
properties view is always available for any resource by selecting the resource and
clicking Actions > Properties.

Some tasks and plug-ins, most notably Navigate Resources, also provide Topology
Perspectives. When you select this feature, you can view a collection of related
resources, such as systems and their storage, and see the relationships among the
resources using a topology map. You also can toggle from the map view to a
resource view or relationship view.

Table view
The table view can display a list of the resources or tasks. Tables are the basic way
that information is displayed in IBM Systems Director.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the table view.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 77


Figure 20. Table view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Toolbar
Provides frequently used tasks as buttons. Available buttons vary,
depending on the task page. In this example, the Create Group button is
provided, but on other task pages, the Create Group button might not be.

Actions
Opens a list of available actions. These actions include those that are
provided in the toolbar and elsewhere on the page as well as actions that
are common to all tables. For common table actions, see “Table navigation
in IBM Systems Director.”

Search the table


Searches the table with the string or phrase provided. When you type a
string in this field, any matching strings in the currently displayed table
are highlighted. Additionally, if you click Search, all of the pages of a table
are searched for the provided string; only the rows that contain the string
are displayed in the table.

Resource area
Displays the content of the resource area depending on the resources that
you have chosen to view. To see the members of a group, click on a group
in the table. The view drills down to view the group members in the table
and another step is added to the breadcrumb path. For example, if you
click Common-Agent systems in the table, all systems in your
environment that have Common Agent installed are displayed. The
resource view functions in the same way regardless of the resources that
you have chosen to view.

78 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To perform an action on a resource in the view, right-click the resource and
select an action.

Table state information


Provides navigation between pages of the table. The table view displays a
limited number of entries on a single page. To move to the next page, click
the arrow button at the bottom left portion of the table. The table view
indicates the number of pages of data that is being displayed, for example,
Page 1 of 3. It displays the count of resources or relationships currently
shown, filtered, and the number selected. To change the number of entries
that are displayed in the table, change the Rows per table setting in the
Navigation Preferences page. For more information see “Setting navigation
preferences.”

Tip: To got to a specific page, type a number in the provided entry field
and press Enter. If you specified an number that is not valid, the page in
the table does not change.

Properties view
The properties view displays a list of properties and other detailed information
associated with the selected resource. Using the properties view, you can access
troubleshooting information and other important details about a resource from
anywhere in the IBM Systems Director Web interface. This view is available for all
resources from the Actions menu and from the resource's pop-up menu.
Depending on the selected resource, the properties view can provide information
about any configuration settings, jobs, thresholds, or event automation plans that
can affect the resource as well as dynamic troubleshooting information such as
active status, inventory, and event log. Also, the properties view provides access to
any tasks that can be performed on the selected resource by way of the Actions
menu.

You can access the properties view from any view by selecting a resource and
clicking Actions > Properties.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the properties view.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 79


Figure 21. Properties view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Actions
Contains actions that are applicable to the resource displayed in the
Properties view.

Additional properties
If present, this area provides links to customized properties views provided
by the plug-in.

Resource area
Displays the content of the resource area that varies depending on the
resource that you have chosen to view. While the General page is always
displayed by default, the following additional pages can be provided
depending on the resource type:
General
Displays the basic resource properties. This page is displayed by
default.
Active Status
Displays any problems, compliance concerns, and other issues.
Applied Activities
Displays any jobs, thresholds, software packages, activations, or
event automation plans that are associated with the resource.

80 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Configuration
Displays any configuration settings that can be edited immediately
or saved as a template for later deployment. For more information,
see “Configuring systems.”
Event Log
Displays any event log data that might be associated with the
resource. For more information, see “Managing the Event Log.”
Inventory
Displays any inventory data that might be associated with the
resource. For more information, see “Collecting and viewing
inventory data.”
Service and Support
Displays whether Service and Support Manager is monitoring the
resource for problems that can be reported automatically to IBM
support. This page is displayed only if you have installed and
activated the Service and Support Manager plug-in. For more
information, see “Service and Support Summary.”

Topology Perspectives views


After you select Navigate Resources from the navigation area, you can drill down
to see relationships among your resources using Topology Perspectives. Select a
resource or group of resources and click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Basic.
The Basic selection provides a topology map that shows key resources that are
related to the selected resource. When viewing a collection of related resources,
you can toggle among the map view, resource view, or relationship view to
manage your resources.

Navigate Resources provides the basic topology perspective that is described in


this section. Other plug-ins available for IBM Systems Director might provide
additional perspectives on this menu. These additional perspectives can provide
specific topological views of resource information:
All Provides a topology map that shows all resources that are related to the
selected resource.
Network
Provides a topology map that shows network-specific resources that are
related to the selected resource, including servers, routers, and network
cards.

For information about additional topology perspectives, see the following topics:
v “Storage topology views”
v “The update topology perspective”
v “Viewing resources in virtualization perspectives”

Note: The properties view is always available for any resource; select the resource
and click Properties.

Map view:

The map view shows a graphical view of your resources and their relationships.
You can drill down and view the relationships among these resources and other
resources in your environment. You can also view and edit resource properties.
You can click on any displayed system icon or on any relationship line to select a
resource or relationship; then right-click on that selected resource to display a list
of available actions.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 81


You can access the topology map view by selecting one or more resources and then
clicking Actions > Topology Perspectives > Basic. After you have entered the map
view, you can change to the resource view or relationship view. You can access the
map view from the resource view or relationship view by clicking Actions > Map
View.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the map view.

Figure 22. Map view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Toolbar
The toolbar contains the following toolbar buttons and menu:
Table 4. Toolbar buttons and menu
Icon Name Description
Actions menu Contains actions for the topology as a whole, as well as pop-up menu items
for resources currently selected in the topology. For example, to display the
properties of the currently selected resource, click Actions > Properties.
Search the map Searches the map for resources that have a name containing the word or
phrase provided.
Select Selects resources in the topology.

82 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 4. Toolbar buttons and menu (continued)
Icon Name Description
Zoom Area Selects the part of the topology that you want to increase or decrease in size.

Pan Provides a way for you to drag the topology map to reposition it in the
topology viewport.
Hover Help Displays detailed information about a resource or relationship line when a
mouse hovers over it.
Zoom Out (F2) Incrementally reduces the total area of the topology you want to view.

Zoom In (F3) Incrementally enlarges the total area of topology you want to view.

Zoom To Fit (F4) Scales the entire topology to fit into the topology viewport.

Print Graph Prints the entire topology. A Web browser window opens containing a JPEG
image of the graph. You can either print the graphic using your Web-browser
print feature or save the graphic as a local image.
Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off
for the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.
Print Viewport Prints only the current resources and relationships that are displayed in the
topology viewport. This view might be only a portion of the overall topology.
A Web browser window opens containing a JPEG image of the graph. You can
either print the graphic using your Web-browser print feature or save the
graphic as a local image.
Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off
for the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.
Hide Palette View Hides the support area that displays the palettes.

Show Palette View Shows the support area that displays the palettes.

Map area
Enables you to drill down and view the relationships between resources in
a graphical format. You can right-click on a resource to display a list of
available actions. You can perform mouse actions on the topology map
such as scrolling, repositioning, and resizing. You also can use the
Overview palette to easily reposition the resources and relationships that
are displayed in the map.

Support area
Contains the Overview, Details, and Filter palettes. Click Hide Palette

View on the navigation toolbar to close the support area. Click Show

Palette View on the navigation toolbar to open the support area. See
“Navigating topology maps” for more information.

Overview palette
Provides a view of the entire topology map with a rectangle surrounding
the portion of the map displayed in the map viewport. You can click and
drag within the Overview palette to reposition the topology. See
“Reordering, minimizing, and hiding palettes” for more information.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 83


Details palette
Provides a way to work with the properties of your resources. When you
select a resource or relationship in the topology, all of its properties appear
in the properties page within the Details palette. To change editable
properties, click Edit to open the Edit Properties window, change the
property, and click OK. See “Viewing properties and details” for more
information.

Filter palette
Provides a way to select the resources that you want to see in the topology
map. You can filter your selections by status and by resource type. When
filtered, the affected resources and relationships are grayed out in the map.
The Filter palette also provides a Results page that displays the results of
searching the map view. See “Filtering the topology map” for more
information.

Table state information


Displays the count of resources or relationships currently shown, the
number selected, and the number filtered. A Depth menu is displayed to
indicate the number of relationships from the root node to the object that is
farthest away from that node. Using this menu, you can select the depth of
related resources that you want to view in the topology.

Resource view:

The resource view displays a list of the resources in the current topology map
view.

You can access the resource view from the map view or relationship view by
clicking Actions > Resource View.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the resource view.

84 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 23. Resource view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Actions
Opens a list of available actions. These actions include those that are
provided in the toolbar and elsewhere on the page as well as actions that
are common to all tables. For common table actions, see “Table navigation
in IBM Systems Director.”
Map View
Click to change to the topology map view of the selected resource
and its related resources.
Resource View
The currently selected view, it displays the resource view of the
selected resource and its related resources.
Relationship View
Click to change to the selected resource, its related resources, and
their relationships.
Depth Indicate the number of relationships from the root node to the
object that is farthest away from that node. Using this menu, you
can select the depth of related resources that you want to view in
the table.

Search the table


Searches the table with the string or phrase provided. When you type a
string in this field, any matching strings in the currently displayed table
are highlighted. Additionally, if you click Search, all of the pages of a table
are searched for the provided string; only the rows that contain the string
are displayed in the table.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 85


Resource area
The content of the resource area depends on the resources that you have
chosen to view. To see the members of a group, click on a group in the
table. The view drills down to view the group members in the table and
another step is added to the breadcrumb path. For example, if you click
Common-Agent systems in the table, all systems in your environment that
have Common Agent installed will be displayed. The resource view
functions in the same way regardless of the resources that you have chosen
to view.
To perform an action on a resource in the view, right-click the resource and
select an action.

Table state information


Provides navigation between pages of the table. The table view displays a
limited number of entries on a single page. To move to the next page, click
the arrow button at the bottom left portion of the table. The table view
indicates the number of pages of data that is being displayed, for example,
Page 1 of 3. It displays the count of resources or relationships currently
shown, filtered, and the number selected. To change the number of entries
that are displayed in the table, change the Rows per table setting in the
Navigation Preferences page. For more information see “Setting navigation
preferences.”

Tip: To got to a specific page, type a number in the provided entry field
and press Enter. If you specified an number that is not valid, the page in
the table does not change.

Relationship view:

The relationship view shows the relationships among the resources in the current
topology map view. You can see the name of each resource, its type of relationship
to another resource, and the related resource. Before you can access the
relationship view, you must enter Topology Perspectives.

You can access a relationship view from the map view by clicking Actions >
Relationship View.

Note: After you enter the map view, there are two additional alternate views: the
relationship view and the resource view. Having entered the map view you can
change among the three alternate views.

Use the following example and descriptions to learn about the relationship view.

86 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Figure 24. Relationship view

Breadcrumb path
Provides a collection of links that show the navigation path to the current
view. You can click any of these links to go back in the path.

Actions
Contains actions for the selected resource and its related resources in a
relationship view.
Opens a list of available actions. These actions include those that are
provided in the toolbar and elsewhere on the page as well as actions that
are common to all tables. For common table actions, see “Table navigation
in IBM Systems Director.”
Map View
Click to change to the topology map view of the selected resource
and its related resources.
Resource View
Click to change to the resource view of the selected resource and
its related resources.
Relationship View
The currently selected view, it displays the selected resource, its
related resources, and their relationships.
Depth Indicate the number of relationships from the root node to the
object that is farthest away from that node. Using this menu, you
can select the depth of related resources that you want to view in
the table.

Search the table


Searches the table with the string or phrase provided. When you type a
string in this field, any matching strings in the currently displayed table

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 87


are highlighted. Additionally, if you click Search, all of the pages of a table
are searched for the provided string; only the rows that contain the string
are displayed in the table.

Relationship area
The content of the relationship area depends on the resources that you
have chosen to view. For example, if you click Virtual Servers and Hosts,
the relationships that pertain to your virtual systems and hosts will be
displayed in the relationship view. A relationship between two resources is
displayed in each row. The relationship view functions in the same way
regardless of the types of relationships you have chosen to view.
To perform an action on the resources in the relationship view, right-click
the resource name in a row. The pop-up menu provides a submenu for
each resource in the relationship. Select an action for the resource you want
to affect. The action you select is performed on the selected resource within
the relationship.

Table state information


Provides navigation between pages of the table. The table view displays a
limited number of entries on a single page. To move to the next page, click
the arrow button at the bottom left portion of the table. The table view
indicates the number of pages of data that is being displayed, for example,
Page 1 of 3. It displays the count of resources or relationships currently
shown, filtered, and the number selected. To change the number of entries
that are displayed in the table, change the Rows per table setting in the
Navigation Preferences page. For more information see “Setting navigation
preferences.”

Tip: To got to a specific page, type a number in the provided entry field
and press Enter. If you specified an number that is not valid, the page in
the table does not change.

Finding systems and other resources


A system-management environment can include a large number of systems and
other resources. While you can expand and navigate through groups in Navigate
Resources or within other task tables to find a particular resource, you also can
quickly and easily find a particular resource using Find a Resource.

To locate resources quickly, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Find a
Resource.

Note: Find a Resource is also available on the Welcome page.


2. In the Find a Resource field, type the name of the system and click Find. The
first 10 results of the search are displayed below the field. If there are more
than 10 results, More is displayed.
3. Optional: If there are more than 10 results, you can refine the search results.
4. Optional: To view all the search results, click More. A table is displayed with
the search results.

88 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related reference
lssys command
accesssys command

Viewing resources in the topology perspective


Using topology perspectives, you can view a collection of resources and see their
relationships among each other in multiple ways. If a task provides topology
perspectives, the Topology Perspectives action is available from the Actions menu.
After you enter the topology map view, you can access the resource view and the
relationship view. These views provide alternate ways to view the resources and
relationships that are displayed in the map view.

Note: Do not confuse the resource view and relationship view with the navigation
tables that are used throughout the IBM Systems Director Web interface. These
views display only the resources and relationships that you selected to display in
the topology perspective.

Viewing resources in the map view


The map view shows a graphical view of your resources and their relationships. If
a resource provides the topology map view as an alternate view, Topology
Perspectives is available in the Actions menu.

To view a topology map, complete the following steps:


1. On a task page, navigate to a resource with relationships that you want to see
in a topology map view and select it.
2. Click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Basic.
3. View the map area. Use the map to drill down and view the relationships
between resources in a graphical format. You can right-click on a resource to
display a list of available actions.
4. Use your mouse to scroll, reposition, resize, and select resources and
relationships, as well as open context menus for resources. Relationships
between resources are displayed as lines, and the direction of the relationship is
shown by the direction of the arrow attached to each line. For information
about determining the type of relationship that a line indicates, see
“Determining a relationship type.” For more information about relationship
lines, see “Topology-relationship descriptions.” For more information about
mouse actions in a topology map, see “Navigating topology maps.”
5. View the Overview palette in the Support area. This palette provides a view of
the entire topology map with a rectangle surrounding the portion of the map
displayed in the map viewport. You can click and drag within the Overview
palette to reposition the topology.
6. View the Details palette in the Support area. This palette provides a way to
work with the properties of your resources. When you select a resource or
relationship in the topology, all of its properties appear in the properties page
within the Details palette. To change editable properties, click Edit to open the
Edit Properties window, change the property, and click OK. See “Viewing
properties and details” for more information.
7. View the Filter palette in the Support area. This palette provides a way to select
the resources that you want to see in the topology map. You can filter your
selections by status and by resource type. When filtered, the affected resources
and relationships are grayed out in the map. The Filter palette also provides a
Results page that displays the results of searching the map view. For more
information, see “Filtering the topology map.”

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 89


Viewing resources in the resource view
The resource view displays a list of the resources in the current topology map
view.

To view and use the resource view, complete the following steps:
1. In a topology map or relationship table, click Actions > Resource View.
2. In the table view, click a resource in the list to drill down and see more
resources and their relationships.
3. If you want to perform tasks or other actions on your resources, select one or
more resources; then, click Action and click a task.

Tips:
v You also can right-click the resource and select a task from the pop-up menu.
v You can run some tasks on multiple resources simultaneously. To perform an
action on multiple resources, select the resources, right-click on one of the
selected resources, and select a task from the pop-up menu.

Viewing resources in the relationship view


The relationship view shows the relationships among the resources in the current
topology map view. You can see the name of each resource, its type of relationship
to another resource, and the related resource. Before you can access the
relationship view, you must enter Topology Perspectives.

To view and use the relationship view, complete the following steps:
1. In a topology map or resource view, select a resource and click Actions >
Relationship View. The resource view shows a list of the relationships among
your resources. A relationship between two resources is displayed in each row.
The resource view provides the following information about the relationships:
From In the resource view, the resource that is the starting point of a
relationship. For example, if System A is the host for Virtual Server 1,
then System A is the starting point of the relationship.
Relationship type
The type of relationship between two resources. Relationships might be
physical to physical, physical to virtual, or virtual to virtual. Consider
the following examples:
v A physical to physical relationship might be an IBM Power system to
a disk unit.
v A physical to virtual relationship might be a host system to a virtual
server.
v A virtual to virtual relationship might be a virtual server connected
to a virtual LAN.
To In the resource view, the resource that is the ending point of a
relationship. For example, if System A is the host for Virtual Server 1,
then Virtual Server 1 is the ending point of the relationship.
2. To perform actions on a resource in a relationship, select a relationship row.
Then, click Actions, select either the To or From resource, and click a task.

Tips:
v You also can right-click the resource and select a task from the pop-up menu.
v Use the pop-up menu or the Actions menu to perform actions on either of
the resources represented in the relationship.

90 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Changing between resource views
After you have entered the topology map view, you can change to alternate views
of the resources and relationships that you chose to view in the topology map
view.

You first must enter the topology map view before you can change to the
relationship table or resource table views. If a task provides the topology map
view, the Topology Perspectives action is available in the Actions menu.

After you enter the topology map view, you can change to the relationship view or
the resource view and then return to the map view. All views are available in the
Actions menu and the view that you are currently using is checked.

Also, the properties view is always available from the Actions menu. Select a
resource and then click Actions > Properties.

When selecting a view, consider the following information:


v In the map view, you can view related resources of multiple types, including
their status information. Also, you can control the levels of resources that you
view. For example, if you choose to view three levels, the map displays all
resources that are up to three levels away from the primary resource, such as a
server, its RAID controller, and any attached RAID physical drives.
v In the resource view, you can view all the resources from the map view, but in a
table that is easier to filter and sort.
v In the relationship view, you can view the types of relationships that exist
between the resources in the map view.
v In the properties view, you can view all the troubleshooting information for a
resource in one place.

Changing the default resource view


You can customize the view that you want displayed when you open a resource in
the topology map. This setting is provided for accessibility requirements and
screen reader support; the setting affects only the view that is shown when the
resource is opened. After you have opened the resource, you can switch to a
different view. By default, this option is not selected; therefore, the topology view
is the default view. When this setting is selected, the topology view is not initially
displayed when you select Topology Perspectives.

To set the default resource view, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Navigation Preferences.
2. On the Navigation Preferences page, select or clear Use the resource table view
as the default view for topology maps.
3. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the
system-defined values, click Restore Defaults. You still must click OK or
Apply to save the restored settings.

Working with tables


Working with tables and table information is a common task in the IBM Systems
Director Web interface. In addition to navigating tables, you can filter, sort, search,

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 91


export, and print table information. You can add resources to your Favorites view
that you use frequently. Also, you can customize your table navigation preferences
and adjust table columns.

Navigating tables
Navigating tables is a common task in IBM Systems Director. Most resources and
information are displayed in tables.

To navigate in tables, complete the following steps:


1. Open a task, such as Navigate Resources, that uses tables for navigating
resources.
2. Click a resource or group in the task table. Depending on the resource or group
that you click, the following information is displayed:
v If you click an individual resource that contain other resources, its
subsystems or related resources are displayed. For example, you can drill
down to view disks related to a server or fans related to a BladeCenter
chassis. Depending on the resource, there might be several levels through
which you can drill down. You can continue to click or drill down on
resources to see lower-level subsystems or resources.
v If you click a resource that does not contain other resources, then that
resource's properties are displayed. Depending on the pages provided for the
resource, you can access information such as inventory and event status;
configuration settings; and information about the jobs, thresholds, software
packages, activations, or event automation plans that are associated with the
resource. For information about the Properties page, see “Viewing
properties.”
v If you click a group, a list of the included systems and resources is
displayed.
3. If you want to change the number of rows that are displayed in the table,
change the Rows per table setting in the Navigation Preferences page. For more
information see “Setting table-navigation preferences.”
4. If you want to navigate to an earlier part of your path in the table, click the
applicable part of the breadcrumb path located above the table. As you drill
down through related resources or to properties pages, the breadcrumb path is
extended to reflect the path you have taken.
5. Continue to click or drill down through resources to see lower-level subsystems
or resources.
The Actions menu also provides alternative ways to navigate the resources in
the table. Clicking Actions > Related Resources provides a list of resources that
are related to your selected resource. Select a related resource from the list to
navigate quickly to it. If applicable, alternate views might be available from the
Actions menu. Clicking Actions > Topology Perspectives displays a map of
resources and their relationships starting from the selected resource. For
information about Topology Perspectives, see “Topology Perspectives views.”
6. If you want to perform tasks or other actions on your resources, select one or
more resources. Then, you can either right-click the resource or click the
Actions menu. Both menus provide tasks and actions that are available for the
selected resources. These tasks and actions fall into the following categories:
v Actions that provide navigational alternatives. Related Resources provides a
list of resources that are related to the selected resource. Using this list, you
can navigate quickly to any related resource. If applicable, alternate views
also might be available. For example, the Topology Perspectives view

92 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


displays a map of resources and their relationships starting from the selected
resource. For information about Topology Perspectives, see “Topology
Perspectives views.”
v Specific tasks or actions that are applicable to a selected resource in the table.
For example, if you select a system in a table, these actions might include
Create Group, Power On, Access Control, Encryption Key Reset, and others.
v Globally available tasks and actions. For example, these tasks might include
Create and Create Like if they are applicable to a resource.
v Actions that are specific to tables such as filtering, sorting, exporting, and
adjusting columns.

Viewing properties
The properties view displays a list of properties and other detailed information
associated with the selected resource. Using the properties view, you can access
troubleshooting information and other important details about a resource from
anywhere in the IBM Systems Director Web interface. This view is available for all
resources from the Actions menu and from the resource's pop-up menu.

For information about viewing properties in a topology map view, see “Viewing
properties and details.”

To view properties for a resource in a table, complete the following steps:


1. In the table, select a resource.
2. Click Actions > Properties. On the Properties page, the resource area displays
one or more pages. The number of pages and the types of information they
include vary depending on the resource. The General page is displayed by
default.
3. View the properties displayed on the General page. Some properties are
editable. For information about editing properties, see “Editing properties.”
4. Optional: If additional pages are available, click them to view additional
properties information and troubleshooting information. Depending on the
pages provided for the resource, you can access information such as inventory
and event status; configuration settings; and information about the jobs,
thresholds, software packages, activations, or event automation plans that are
associated with the resource.

Filtering table information


Within any IBM Systems Director Web interface table, you can use the filtering
options that are available from the Action button. After you have completed
filtering resources in the table view, you can see the rows that match your filter
criteria in the table.

Note: Filtering is not persistent; filter settings are not remembered for subsequent
uses of the list.
To filter information in any table, complete the following steps:
1. Click Actions > Show Filter Row. An additional row at the top of each column
is displayed. This row contains Filter links.
2. Click Filter to open the selectable filtering criteria for a column.

Note: The available filter conditions vary depending on the column.


3. In the Filter window, select the condition on which you want to filter the
column. The conditions available vary depending on the type of information
that the column contains:

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 93


Textual information, such as name and description
The Filter window provides the following settings, as well as an option
to match the case:
v Contains
v Starts with
v Ends with
Type information, such as resource type
The types present in this column determine the settings available for
filtering. For example, if the column contains hosts, platform managers,
physical processors, and storage systems, then those types are available
as filter selections. However, if the column contains only one type, for
example, only servers, then filtering is disabled for that column.
Health and compliance information
The Filter window provides settings that are applicable to the specific
information reported in the column. For example, the following settings
are used for health information:
v Critical
v Fatal
v Minor
v Warning
v Informational
v Unknown
v OK
Status information
The Filter window provides settings that are applicable to the specific
information reported in the column. For example, the following settings
are for access status:
v None
v Partial
v Full
Enumeration
The Filter window provides a list of settings that are applicable to the
specific information reported in the column.
Numeric information
The Filter window provides the following settings when applicable,
where x is a specified number and y is another specified number:
v All numbers
v Numbers less than x
v Numbers less than or equal to x
v Numbers greater than x
v Numbers greater than or equal to x
v Numbers equal to x
v Numbers not equal to x
v Numbers between x and y
v Numbers between and including x and y
Date, time, or date and time information
The Filter window provides settings that are applicable to the specific
information reported in the column. For example, the following settings
are used for the date:
v All dates
v Dates until
v Dates from
v Dates between

94 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Boolean information
The Filter window provides information that can be filtered by Yes and
No selections.
4. Optional: To refine your filtering, you can edit the filter settings for additional
columns.
5. When you are satisfied with your filter settings, click OK. If you want to clear
all of your filter settings, click Actions > Clear All Filters.
6. When you finish filtering your table information, click Actions > Hide Filter
Row.

Sorting table information


Within any IBM Systems Director Web interface table, you can use the sorting
options that are available in the table column headers and from the Action menu.

To sort information in any table, complete the following steps:


1. If you want to sort all the rows by the values in one column, you can click the
Up Arrow and the Down Arrow in the applicable column heading. For
example, if you want to sort the rows by name, click the arrow in the Name
column for the sort direction that you want. If you want to sort the rows by
type, click the arrow in the Type column.
You can control the sorting of a column by a series of clicks on the column
heading:
v The first click sorts the rows in ascending order (Z-A).
v The second click reverses the sort, that is, to descending order (A-Z).
v The third click removes the sort altogether.
2. If you want to all the rows by the values of more than one column, click
Actions > Edit Sort. For example, you might want to sort all the rows by type
but, within type, you want the rows sorted by name.
3. In the Edit Sorts window, a list is displayed for each available column on
which you can sort. In the First Sort list, select the column that contains the
data you want sorted first. Also, select the order of the sort: Ascending (Z-A) or
Descending (A-Z).
4. Optional: If you want to sort the table information on additional columns,
continue to make selections in the additional sort lists.
5. When you are satisfied with your sort settings, click OK.
6. If you want to clear all of your sort settings, click Actions > Clear All Sorts.

Searching table information


Within any IBM Systems Director Web interface table, you can search for a specific
string in the table information.

To search any table, complete the following steps:


1. Type a string in the Search the table field. Any matching strings in the
currently displayed table are highlighted.
2. Click Search. All of the pages in the table are searched for the provided string
and any rows that contain the string are displayed in a new table.

Printing tables
If a table is only one page long (that is, you can view the entire table on the page),
you can use your Web browser to print the table information. Otherwise, to print
tables that are more than one page long, you can export the table data to a CSV
file that you can subsequently import into a spreadsheet program and print using
that program.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 95


Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off for
the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

If you want to increase the number of table rows that are displayed on one page,
see “Setting table-navigation preferences” for information.

To print a multiple-page table, see “Exporting table information.” To print a


one-page table, complete the following steps:
1. In your Web browser, click File > Print.
2. In the Print window for your Web browser, click the option to print the
selected frame. Selecting this option will print only the IBM Systems Director
Web interface content area and not the navigation area.
3. Optional: Adjust your orientation setting to landscape so that the table width
can be printed. Typically, this is a printer setting and must be changed in the
printer properties.
4. In the Print window, click OK.

Exporting table information


Within any IBM Systems Director Web interface table, you can export the table
data to a CSV file that you can subsequently import into a spreadsheet program.

Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off for
the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

To export data from any IBM Systems Director Web interface table, complete the
following steps:
1. Click Actions > Export.
2. In the file download window for your Web browser, click Save to Disk and
then click OK.
3. If your Web browser requires a location selection, provide it and click Save.

The data is exported and a CSV file is saved in the location that you provided.

Tip: You can print a multiple-page table using a CSV file. Import the CSV file into
a spreadsheet program and use the program's print feature.

Adding resources to your Favorites view


You can save resources that you refer to frequently into a special location: your
Favorites view. Having all these resources in one location makes managing your
system-management environment easier.

You can add a resource to your Favorites from many places in the IBM Systems
Director Web interface. Whenever the Actions menu or a pop-up menu provides
the Add to > Favorites selection, you can add the resource to your Favorites. To
add a resource to your Favorites, complete the following steps:
1. In an IBM Systems Director Web interface table, navigate to the resource that
you want to save.
2. Optional: If you want to add multiple resources to your Favorites at once,
select each resource in the table that you want to save.
3. Right-click the resource (or a selected resource) and then click Add to >
Favorites. A confirmation message is displayed.

96 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To view your Favorites, navigate to the Health Summary page. In the IBM Systems
Director Web interface navigation area, expand System Status and Health and
click Health Summary. Favorites - userid, where userid is your user ID, is
displayed in the Health Summary page.

Adding a group of resources to the Health Summary


You can save a group of resources in the Health Summary for easy reference. The
resources must be in a group. On the Health Summary page, a thumbnail of the
group contents is displayed. You can add a resource to the Health Summary
whenever the Actions menu or a pop-up menu provides the Add to > Health
Summary selection.

The resources must be in a group. If the resources are not in an appropriate group,
use the Create Group wizard to create a group. For information, see “Managing
groups.”

To add a resource to the Health Summary, complete the following steps:


1. In a table, select the group that you want to save in the Health Summary.
2. Click Actions > Add to > Health Summary. A confirmation message is
displayed.

To view the Health Summary, navigate to the Health Summary page. In the IBM
Systems Director navigation area, expand System Status and Health and click
Health Summary.

Setting table-navigation preferences


You can customize your preferences for navigating in the table view. These
preferences include table accessibility, your preferred navigation view, and more.

To set the preferences, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Navigation Preferences.
2. On the Navigation Preferences page, you can set the following preferences that
affect the table view:
Enable tables for accessibility
Select this option to turn off table features that are not accessible in the
interface, such as fixed column width. By default this option is not
selected.
Play sound when data on the page changes
Select this option to turn on a notification sound that is played when
the graphical user interface is refreshed. Examples of situations that can
cause a notification sound include a page refreshing dynamic data, a
user selection that displays additional controls or options, a table
completes a sort, or a user starts a page refresh. By default this option
is not selected.
Use the resource table view as the default view for topology maps
Select the view that you want displayed when you open a resource in
the topology map. This setting affects only the view that is shown
when the resource is opened. After you have opened the resource, you
can switch to a different view. By default, this option is not selected;
the topology view is the default view.
Rows per table
Specify the number of rows to display on a page in the table view for

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 97


Navigate Resources and other navigation tables in IBM Systems
Director. The default number of rows is 15.
Rows per embedded table
Specify the number of rows to display in an embedded table in the
table view for Health Summary and other navigation tables in IBM
Systems Director. The default number of rows is 10.
3. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the
system-defined values, click Restore Defaults. You still must click OK or
Apply to save the restored settings.

Setting table-column preferences


You can customize your preferences for the table columns used in Navigate
Resources and all other tables used in the IBM Systems Director Web interface.
These preferences include the available columns that are displayed in the table,
how the columns are ordered (except for Name, which is always the first column),
and the width for each column. Note that you also can adjust the column width by
dragging the column handles in the table-column header.

Note: These settings affect tables in the following ways:


v If you are viewing a group when you open the Column Preferences window, the
preferences are saved with the group. The preferences are saved specifically for
your use; group column preferences for other users are not affected.
v If you are viewing a set of resources of the same type when you open the
Column Preferences window, the preferences are saved for any time you view
that same resource type.

To set the table-column preferences, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface task table, click Actions > Columns.
2. In the Columns window on the Order page, select the columns that you want
to display. Use the Add and Remove buttons to move columns between the
Available columns list and the Selected columns list.
3. To adjust the order in which the columns are displayed, select the column from
the Selected columns list and use Up and Down to adjust the order.

Note: You cannot adjust the Name column; it is always the first column.
4. Click the Width tab. The Width page provides an adjustable width setting (in
pixels) for each column displayed in the table.

Note: You also can adjust column width by dragging the column handles in
the table-column header.
5. If you want to change the settings on the page to the system-defined default
values, click Restore Defaults.
6. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the
system-defined values, click Restore Defaults. You still must click OK or
Apply to save the restored settings.

The table is adjusted to display using the new column settings.

98 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Working with topology maps
The topology map view shows a graphical view of your resources and their
relationships. In addition to navigating maps, you can filter, search, export, and
print topology maps. Also, you can customize your topology map palettes and
map preferences.

Navigating topology maps


You can navigate topology maps to view resources and their relationships to each
other in a graphical view.

To navigate in topology maps, complete the following steps:


1. Open a task that provides the topology map view as an alternate view.
Navigate Resources is one of these tasks.
2. On the task page, navigate to a resource that you want to view in a topology
map and select it. The selected resource will be the root node in the topology
map.
3. Click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Basic. The topology map displays
scalable topology graphs that you can manipulate using the following mouse
actions:
Table 5. Mouse actions in the topology map
Interaction Description
Scrolling and Topologies are often much larger than the topology-map viewing area. Therefore, you might
repositioning want to reposition the map to see specific resources.

You can reposition the topology map in the following ways:


v Use the eight scroll controls to scroll in eight directions. The scroll controls are displayed
as white arrows on all four sides and all four corners of the topology map. Click the
arrows to move the topology horizontally, vertically, and diagonally in small increments.
v Go to the Overview palette to reposition the topology map. A blue rectangle indicates the
viewable area of the topology map. Click and drag to move the blue rectangle around the
topology thumbnail. When the Overview rectangle is moved, the topology is repositioned
in the topology map.
v Click the Pan toolbar icon

to load the mouse with the Pan cursor, then click and drag inside the topology map.
v Press the Ctrl and arrow keys on the keyboard to scroll in four directions.
Resizing A resizing function is provided to enlarge the topology map. Click and drag the small gray
triangle in the lower right portion of the topology map to resize the viewable area in the
topology map. Dragging the small gray triangle only resizes the size of the viewable area; it
does not resize the topology.
Note: Resizing the topology map causes the entire page to resize within the interface.
Select a resource Click the resource icon or a resource label.
Select multiple To select two or more resources at the same time, click the first resource. Then press the Ctrl
resources key while using the mouse to select as many resources as you want.
Deselect resources Click the resource again, or click on the background within the topology map. Alternatively,
select the deselect action from the Actions menu.
Select a relationship Click the relationship line.
Select multiple To select two or more relationships at the same time, click the first relationships. Then, hold
relationships the Ctrl key down using the mouse to select as many relationships as you want.
Deselect a Click the relationship line again, or click on the background within the topology map.
relationship

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 99


Table 5. Mouse actions in the topology map (continued)
Interaction Description
Open a pop-up menu Right-click the icon or label.
for a resource Note: The pop-up menu items that are displayed are based on the icon or label that is
selected.
Open a pop-up menu Right-click the background within the topology map.
for the topology
Perform an action on Right-click the icon to access the pop-up menu and then select a menu action. Alternatively,
a resource select the icon or label and then select an action from the Actions menu.
Perform an action on Select multiple resources, and right-click any of the selected resources to access the pop-up
multiple resources menu; then select a menu action. Alternatively, select the icon or label and then select an
action from the Actions menu.

4. For large topology maps, use the Overview palette to view of the entire
topology map with a rectangle surrounding the portion of the map displayed
in the map viewport. You can click and drag within the Overview palette to
reposition the topology.
5. Optional: If you want to perform tasks or other actions on your resources,
select one or more resources. Then, you can either right-click on the resource or
click the Actions menu. Both menus provide tasks and actions that are
available for the selected resources. These tasks and actions fall into three
categories:
v Specific tasks or actions that are applicable to a selected resources in the
map. For example, if you select a system in a map, these actions might
include Create Group, Power On, Access Control and Encryption Key Reset.
If applicable, alternate views might be available. For example, Relationship
View displays a table of a selected resource and its related resources, and
lists their relationships.
v Globally available tasks and actions. For example, these task might include
Create and Create Like if they are applicable to a resource.
v Actions specific to maps such as graph mode, zoom, and layout.
6. If you want to navigate to an earlier part of your path, click the applicable part
of the breadcrumb path located above the map.

Viewing properties and details


You can view properties and detailed information about a selected resource in a
topology map. Depending on the selected resource, the properties view also
provides dynamic troubleshooting information such as active status, inventory, and
event log.

To view properties and details, complete the following steps:


1. In the topology map, click a resource or relationship line.
2. View the Details palette for the properties information. If you selected a
relationship line, a relationship table is displayed. If you selected a resource, a
properties table is displayed.

Note: If you want to reorder or adjust the size of the palette, see “Reordering,
minimizing, and hiding palettes.”
3. To view all of the resource properties information, click Actions > Properties.
On the Properties page, the resource area displays one or more pages. The
number of pages and the types of information they include vary depending on
the resource. The General page is displayed by default.

100 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. View the properties displayed on the General page. Some properties are
editable. For information about editing properties, see “Editing properties.”
5. Optional: If additional pages are available, click them to view additional
properties information and troubleshooting information. Depending on the
pages provided for the resource, you can access information such as inventory
and event status; configuration settings; and information about the jobs,
thresholds, software packages, activations, or event automation plans that are
associated with the resource.
6. When you are done viewing the properties, click OK to return to the topology
map view.

You also can change editable properties. For more information, see “Editing
properties.”

Determining a relationship type


Topology maps display relationships between resources using lines. A line can
indicate one of many relationship types. There are several ways that you can
determine the type that a line indicates.

You can determine the type of relationship that a line indicates in any of the
following ways:
v In the topology map, click a relationship line. Then, view the Details palette. The
relationship type is listed in the Details palette.
v In the topology map, right-click a resource at either end of the relationship line
and then click Relationship View. The relationship table view is displayed. The
information is listed in the Relationship Type column.

v On the topology map toolbar, click the Hover Help icon . Then, move the
mouse pointer over the relationship line to view information about the
relationship, including the relationship type.

For information about each relationship type, see “Topology-relationship


descriptions.”

Filtering the topology map


Within any topology map, you can use the filtering options that are available from
the Filter palette. Use this palette to select the resources that you want to see in the
topology map. You can filter your selections by status and by resource type. When
filtered, the affected resources and relationships are grayed out in the map. The
Filter palette also provides a Results page that displays the results of searching the
map view.

To filter a map, complete the following steps:


1. View the Filter palette in the Support area. The palette has two pages: Filter
and Results. On the Filter page, the palette provides two types of settings on
which you can filter: status and resource type.
2. If you want to filter by resource status, go to the Status Items group and clear
the selections that you want to filter from the topology map. Any resource in
the topology map that has a status matching a cleared selection is grayed out in
the topology map. For example, if you clear the OK check box, any resources
that have a status of OK are grayed out in the topology map.
3. If you want to filter by resource type, go to the Resource Types group and
clear the selections that you want to filter from the topology map. Any resource
of a type that matches a cleared selection is grayed out in the topology map.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 101


For example, if you clear the Server check box, any resources that are a server
resource type are grayed out in the topology map.
4. Click the Results tab. The Results page displays a table of information about
the resources that are not grayed out in the topology.

Note: Filtering is not persistent; filter settings are not remembered for subsequent
uses of the map.

Searching the topology map


You can search for a specific resource name in a topology map. Any resources in
the map that do not match the specified string are greyed out in both the large
topology map and the thumbnail topology map in the Overview palette.

To search a map, complete the following steps:


1. Type a string in the Search the map field.
2. Click Search. The name field is searched for the specified string. Any resources
in the map that do not match the specified string are greyed out in both the
large topology map and the thumbnail topology map in the Overview palette.

The search results also are displayed in the Filter palette on its Results page.

Printing topology maps


You can choose to print the entire topology or only a portion of the overall
topology.

Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off for
the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

To print a topology map, complete the following steps in the topology map view:

1. To print the entire topology, click the Print Graph icon from the toolbar. A
Web browser window opens containing a JPEG image of the graph.
2. You can either print the graphic using your Web-browser print feature or save
the graphic as a local image.
3. To print only the current resources and relationships that are displayed in the

topology map view, click the Print Viewport icon from the toolbar. The
currently displayed resources and relationships might be only a portion of the
overall topology. A Web browser window opens containing a JPEG image of the
graph.
4. You can either print the graphic using your Web browser print feature or save
the graphic as a local image.

Exporting topology maps


You can export the topology-map data to a CSV file that you can subsequently
import into a spreadsheet program.

Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off for
the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

To export data for an entire topology map, complete the following steps in a
topology map view:
1. Click Actions > Export.

102 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. In the file download window for your Web browser, click Save to Disk and
then click OK.
3. If your Web browser requires a location selection, provide it and click Save.

The data is exported and a CSV file is saved in the location that you provided.

Reordering, minimizing, and hiding palettes


The topology map view provides palettes that display overview and detailed
information as well as filtering options. You can reorder the position of the palettes
to meet your preferences, you can minimize one or more palettes, or you can
completely hide the support area that displays the palettes.

Each palette has arrow icons on the title bar as applicable. For example, if a palette
is the top palette in the support area, its title bar includes only a down arrow. The
middle palette include both up and down arrow icons. To reorder a palette, click
the applicable up or down arrow icons until the palette is in the order that you
prefer. To save the new palette order to use whenever you use the topology map
view, select Remember palette state in Navigation Preferences. For more
information, see “Setting topology-navigation preferences.”

To minimize or hide palettes, complete the following steps in the topology map
view:
v To minimize a palette, click the Minimize icon on the palette title bar to the
right. The palette minimizes and only the palette title bar is displayed.
v To maximize the palette, click the Maximize icon on the palette title bar to the
right. The palette maximizes and is fully displayed.

v To completely hide all of the palettes, click the Hide Palette View icon on
the navigation toolbar. The support area is closed.
v To show the support area and the palettes, click the Show Palette View icon

on the navigation toolbar. The support area is displayed.

Setting topology-navigation preferences


You can customize your preferences for navigating in the topology map view.
These preferences include the way that topology map palettes are displayed, the
default topology and table sizes, your preferred navigation view, and more.

To set the preferences, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Navigation Preferences.
2. On the Navigation Preferences page, you can set the following preferences that
affect the topology map view:
Show palettes on initial view
Select to display the Overview, Details, and Filter palettes in the
topology map view. If you deselect this setting, you will see the
topology map without the palettes; you can show the palettes again by

clicking the Show Palette View icon on the navigation toolbar.


This option is selected by default.
Play sound when data on the page changes
Select this option to turn on a notification sound that is played when
the graphical user interface is refreshed. Examples of situations that can

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 103


cause a notification sound include a page refreshing dynamic data, a
user selection that displays additional controls or options, a table
completes a sort, or a user starts a page refresh. By default this option
is not selected.
Remember palette state
Select to make sure that the state of your palettes persists even as you
navigate away from the topology map view, change to another page in
the overall IBM Systems Director Web interface, or log off from the IBM
Systems Director Web interface. For example, you can customize the
topology map view by minimizing or reordering the Overview, Details,
and Filter palettes. By selecting Remember palette state, you maintain
the customized view of your palettes even after you log out of the IBM
Systems Director Web interface. This option is selected by default.
Use the resource table view as the default view for topology maps
Select the view that you want displayed when you open a resource in
the topology map. This setting affects only the view that is shown
when the resource is opened. After you have opened the resource, you
can switch to a different view. By default, this option is not selected;
the topology view is the default view.
Topology map size
Specify the dimensions to use for the topology map view.
Remember last size used
Specify that you want to save the dimensions of the current
topology map view and use these dimensions at the next
startup. This option is selected by default.
Custom size (pixels)
Specify custom dimensions for the topology map view. The
following dimensions are the defaults:
v Width: 500 pixels
v Height: 500 pixels
Preferred size for topology map icons (pixels)
Specify the size of icons in the topology map when the map is
displayed initially. The default value is 50.
3. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the
system-defined values, click Restore Defaults. You still must click OK or
Apply to save the restored settings.

Topology-relationship descriptions
Relationships between different resources are displayed as lines, and the direction
of the relationship is shown by the direction of the arrow attached to each line. As
you work with the topology map, it is important to understand that relationship
types are differentiated by the lines.

The following relationships are available:


Table 6. Types of relationship lines in the topology map
Type Description
Accessed via Shows that a resource is accessed from, or accesses another resource.
For example, a system accesses an image repository.

104 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 6. Types of relationship lines in the topology map (continued)
Type Description
Advertises Shows that a certain capability is available on a system. For example,
if a system offers a Web service, it might advertise that Web service
capability.
Allocated from Shows that a resource is allocated from or allocates another resource.
For example, a storage volume is allocated from a storage pool.
Applies to Shows that a resource applies to another resource. For example, a
software product can be applied to a system.
Assigned to Shows that a resource is assigned to, or assigns another resource. For
example, a DVD drive is assigned to a virtual server.
Binds to Shows that a setting is bound to a specific resource. For example, a
specified IP address was bound to the given TCP/IP port.
Boots from Shows the link between an operating system and the file system from
which it is loaded.
Configured using Shows the settings that have been used to configure a specific
resource.
Configures Shows that a resource template was used to configure an instance of a
resource. For example, a software instance is one of the instances that
were configured during of a general Software Installation.
Connected to Shows that a resource is connected to another resource. For example, a
system is connected to a network through a particular port.
Contains Shows that a resource is contained by or contains another resource. For
example, a host contains a physical processor or a rack contains a
chassis..
Controls/ Shows that a resource is controlled by, or controls another resource.
controlled by For example, a platform manager controls a host or a virtual farm.
Controls access to Shows a resource that controls access of another resource. For example,
a Role controls the access rights of a particular user.
Defined using Shows that a resource was defined using another resource. For
example, a template was defined using specific configuration settings.
Federates Shows a logical relationship between two resources. Resources that
exist independently are federated by a separate entity to create a
logical contain relationship. For example, hosts are federated by a
virtual farm.
Fixes Shows the resource that fixes another resource. For example, a
firmware update fixes a system.
Hosts/hosted by Shows that a resource is hosted by or hosts another resource. For
example, a virtual server is hosted by a host.
Installed as Shows that a software module was used and installed as a specific
software resource.
Installed on Shows the relationship between an operating system, software, or fix,
and a computer system. For example, an operating system is installed
on a server.
Latest for This relationship represents that the given Software Module is the
latest for the given computer system.
Located at Shows that the given physical resource or system is located at the
provided Location.
Member of Shows membership of a group or other container. For example, a blade
server is a member of a BladeCenter chassis.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 105


Table 6. Types of relationship lines in the topology map (continued)
Type Description
Needs Shows that a Software Module is missing from the System and must
be applied to it. For example, an update might be needed by an
operating system.
Performs Shows the entity that performs a service. For example, a set of
processes perform a service, or a system performs a particular role,
such as a domain name server.
Plugs into Shows that the given resource plugs into the provided Slot.
Provides Shows that this Service is provided by the System.
Realizes/realizes Shows that one resource provides the physical reality of another
by resource. For example, a host processor realizes a virtual processor
allocation.
Recommended for Shows that the given Software Module is recommended for the given
System.
Represents Shows that the given Software Module is considered represented
within the Software Installable.
Requires Shows that a resource requires or is required by another resource. For
example, an update might have three requisite updates that must be
installed at the same time.
Runs on Shows that a resource runs on another resource.
Supersedes Shows that a Software Resource is considered to be a superset of
another Software Resource and is therefore superseding it. For
example, an update might be more recent than another and therefore
supersedes it.
Uses/used by Shows that a resource is used by another resource. For example, a
virtual server uses a processor allocation.

Working with properties


The properties view displays a list of properties and other detailed information
associated with the selected resource. Using the properties view, you can access
troubleshooting information and other important details about a resource from
anywhere in the IBM Systems Director Web interface. This view is available for all
resources from the Actions menu and from the resource's pop-up menu.

Editing properties
If a resource property is editable, you can edit it in the properties view.

To edit a property, complete the following steps:


1. Navigate to the resource that you want to view and edit.
2. Right-click the resource and click Properties. The General page is displayed by
default in the properties view.
3. Click Edit at the bottom of the General page. The Edit window opens and
displays the properties. The properties vary depending on the resource. Only
some of the properties are editable. The editable properties are displayed in
fields and lists.
4. Edit one or more of the editable properties.
5. When you are satisfied with your changes, click OK to save the changes.

106 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related reference
chsys command

Viewing activities that affect a resource


A resource can potentially be affected by a number of applied activities, such as
jobs, thresholds, software packages, activations, or event automation plans. You can
determine applied activities that affect a specific resource in the properties view.

To view the applied activities associated with a resource, complete the following
steps:
1. Select the resource for which you want to view the applied activities.
2. Click Actions > Properties.
3. On the Properties page, click the Applied Activities tab.

The Applied Activities page displays a list of any jobs, thresholds, software
packages, activations, and event automation plans that are associated with the
resource.

Editing location information for a resource


You can edit the location information that you have provided for an individual
resource. You can edit location information only if you have installed and activated
the Service and Support Manager plug-in or the Active Energy Manager plug-in.

To edit the location information for a resource, complete the following steps:
1. On the Properties page, if the General page is not displayed, click the General
tab to view the General page.
2. In the Additional Properties area, click Location.
3. Click Edit.
4. In the Edit Properties window, make the updates to the location information.
5. Click OK.

Editing location information for a group


You can edit the location information that you have provided for a group of
systems. You can edit location information only if you have installed and activated
the Service and Support Manager plug-in or the Active Energy Manager plug-in.

To edit the location information for all of the systems in a group, complete the
following steps:
1. In Navigate Resources, right-click the group that you want to update.
2. Click Edit Location.
3. In the Edit Location window, select the boxes next to the information that you
want to update.

Note: Only the information in the fields that you select will be updated.
Changes made to other fields will not be saved.
4. Make the updates to the location information.
5. Click OK.

Setting navigation preferences


You can customize your preferences for navigating in IBM Systems Director. These
preferences include the way that topology map palettes are displayed, the default
topology and table sizes, your preferred topology icon size, and more.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 107


To set the navigation preferences, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Navigation Preferences.
2. On the Navigation Preferences page, you can set the following preferences:
Show palettes on initial view
Select to display the Overview, Details, and Filter palettes in the
topology map view. If you deselect this setting, you will see the
topology map without the palettes; you can show the palettes again by

clicking the Show Palette View icon on the navigation toolbar.


This option is selected by default.
Remember palette state
Select to make sure that the state of your palettes persists even as you
navigate away from the topology map view, change to another page in
the overall IBM Systems Director Web interface, or log off from the IBM
Systems Director Web interface. For example, you can customize the
topology map view by minimizing or reordering the Overview, Details,
and Filter palettes. By selecting Remember palette state, you maintain
the customized view of your palettes even after you log out of the IBM
Systems Director Web interface. This option is selected by default.
Enable tables for accessibility
Select this option to turn off table features that are not accessible in the
interface, such as fixed column width. By default this option is not
selected.
Play sound when data on the page changes
Select this option to turn on a notification sound that is played when
the graphical user interface is refreshed. Examples of situations that can
cause a notification sound include a page refreshing dynamic data, a
user selection that displays additional controls or options, a table
completes a sort, or a user starts a page refresh. By default this option
is not selected.
Use the resource table view as the default view for topology maps
Select the view that you want displayed when you open a resource in
the topology map. This setting affects only the view that is shown
when the resource is opened. After you have opened the resource, you
can switch to a different view. By default, this option is not selected;
the topology view is the default view.
Topology map size
Specify the dimensions to use for the topology map view.
Remember last size used
Specify that you want to save the dimensions of the current
topology map view and use these dimensions at the next
startup. This option is selected by default.
Custom size (pixels)
Specify custom dimensions for the topology map view. The
following dimensions are the defaults:
v Width: 500 pixels
v Height: 500 pixels
Rows per table
Specify the number of rows to display on a page in the table view for
Navigate Resources and other navigation tables in IBM Systems
Director. The default number of rows is 15.

108 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Rows per embedded table
Specify the number of rows to display in an embedded table in the
table view for Health Summary and other navigation tables in IBM
Systems Director. The default number of rows is 10.
Preferred size for topology map icons (pixels)
Specify the size of icons in the topology map when the map is
displayed initially. The default value is 50.
3. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the
system-defined values, click Restore Defaults. You still must click OK or
Apply to save the restored settings.

Renaming a resource
You can rename a resource in the IBM Systems Director database. If the name that
was set for the resource when it was discovered is not easily usable for you, you
can rename the resource.

To rename a resource in the IBM Systems Director database, complete the


following steps:
1. Navigate to the resource that you want to rename.
2. Select the resource. Then, click Actions > Rename.
3. In the name field, type the new resource name.
4. In the Rename window, click OK.

The selected resource is renamed in the IBM Systems Director database.

Note: Consider how renaming a resource might affect other aspects of your
managed environment. For example, changing the name of a managed resource
that an event filter specifies as an event sender causes any associated event
automation plan to fail unless you update the sender name in the event filter.
Related reference
chsys command

Removing a resource
You can remove a resource from the IBM Systems Director database. Removing a
resource from the database also removes any additional resources that are
associated with it but does not affect the actual resources. However, removing a
resource from the database is useful when you are removing a resource from your
systems-management environment.

Resources have a properties that determines whether they can be removed. If the
property does not permit removal, this task is not available for the resource.

To remove one or more resources from the IBM Systems Director database,
complete the following steps:
1. Navigate to the resource that you want to remove.
2. Select the resource. Then, click Actions > Remove.
3. In the Remove window, OK.
4. A confirmation message is displayed. Click OK.

The selected resource is removed from the IBM Systems Director database.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 109


Related reference
rmsys command

Managing groups
You can use IBM Systems Director to organize logical sets of resources into groups.
Depending on the type of group that you create, you can use groups to easily
identify and categorize new resources when they are discovered. You can schedule
tasks to run on groups of resources. Using an event automation plan, you can
automatically run tasks on groups of resources. You can create, edit, import, and
export customized groups of resources. Groups are displayed in Navigate
Resources, Health Summary, wizards, and throughout the IBM Systems Director
Web interface.

Groups
You can use IBM Systems Director to organize logical sets of resources into groups.

Groups have the following general characteristics:


v Groups can include resources.
v Groups can include other groups.
v Resources can belong to multiple groups.
v You can perform tasks on groups in order to perform the task on every group
member.
v When you select a group in Navigate Resources, the resources that are members
of that group are displayed.
Related concepts

eLearning: Getting started tasks


Related reference
Group commands

Group types
You can create dynamic and static groups in IBM Systems Director.
Dynamic groups
Dynamic groups are based on specified system criteria. You can create a
dynamic group by specifying criteria that the attributes and properties of
the systems must match. IBM Systems Director automatically adds or
removes systems to or from the group when their attributes and properties
change and affect their matches to the group criteria.
For example, a dynamic group might contain all systems that have Linux
installed.

Note: You cannot edit or delete static default groups.


Static groups
Static groups contain a specified list of systems. IBM Systems Director
Server does not automatically update the contents of a static group. The
members of a static group are fixed unless you change them using the IBM
Systems Director Web interface, the dircli chgp command, or an event
automation plan. You also can copy the members of any dynamic group to
a static group.
For example, a static group might contain all the systems that are
physically located in a particular server room.

110 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Default or predefined groups
When you start Navigate Resources, the discovered resources are categorized and
displayed in default groups. You can click a group to view subgroups that further
categorize the resources for ease-of-use.

Note: You cannot edit or delete static default groups.


All Systems
All discovered systems in IBM Systems Director, including servers, chassis,
operating systems, switches, blades, and storage systems.
All Operating Systems
All operating systems that can be managed in the IBM Systems Director.
Groups by System Type
Systems categorized into subgroups by hardware and operating system
platform. The available subgroups vary, depending on the plug-ins that
you have installed in your IBM Systems Director environment.
v BladeCenter Systems
– BladeCenter Chassis
– BladeCenter Chassis and Members
– Power Systems Blade Servers

Note: The JS21 and JS22 blade servers are not displayed in this
group. They are displayed in the Power Systems group that is
contained in the IBM Power Systems group.
– x86 Blade Servers
– BladeCenter Servers
– BladeCenter Ethernet Switches
– BladeCenter Fibre Channel Switches
– BladeCenter InfiniBand Switches
– BladeCenter SAS Switches
– BladeCenter InfiniBand Switches to Ethernet Bridges
– BladeCenter InfiniBand Switches to Fibre Channel Bridges
– BladeCenter Pass-Through Modules
v Operating Systems
– Windows Systems
– Linux Systems
– AIX Systems
– IBM i Systems
– z/OS® Systems
v System x
– System x Servers
– Servers with Service Processors
– VMware Hosts
– MSVS Hosts
– Xen Hosts
– Scalable Systems
- Scalable Virtual Servers and Members
- Scalable Systems and Members
v System z
– Hardware Management Console and Managed System z Servers
– z/VM Hosts
– z/VM Virtual Servers
– Linux on System z
– z/VM Manageability Access Points
v IBM Power Systems

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 111


– Hardware Management Console and Managed Power Systems Servers
– IVM and Managed Power Systems Servers
– Virtual I/O Server Appliances
– Power Systems

Note: The JS21 and JS22 blade servers are displayed in this group
also.
– AIX/Linux Virtual Servers
– IBM i (formerly i5/OS®) Virtual Servers
– Virtual I/O Server Appliances
– Isolated Workloads and Hosts
– AIX Workload Partitions (WPAR)
– Linux Containers
v Storage Systems
All groups provided by Storage Management. For information, see
“Storage groups.”
– Systems and Volumes
– Storage Subsystems and Volumes
– SMI-S Providers
– Internal RAID
– Network Storage
– BladeCenter Storage
– Generic Systems
Groups by Agent
Systems categorized into subgroups by the degree of management
capability available in the IBM Systems Director systems-management
environment. This default group provides the following subgroups:
v Systems with No Agent
v Systems with Platform Agent
v Systems with Common Agent
Groups by Status
Dynamic groups that contain systems for which there are unresolved
hardware status events. This default group provides the following
subgroups:
v Systems with Problems
v Systems not in Compliance
Groups by Access
Dynamic groups that contain systems depending on their current access
state. This default group provides the following subgroups:
v Systems with No Access
v Systems with Partial Access
v Systems with Full Access
Groups with Thresholds
Any groups to which you have applied a threshold.

Note: If you have migrated event automation plans from versions of IBM
Director earlier than version 6.1, event automation plans that use threshold
values are migrated to this group.
Personal Groups
Any groups that you have created or are exclusively associated with your
IBM Systems Director user ID. These subgroups include the Favorites
group.

112 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Other Groups
Group definitions migrated from versions of IBM Director earlier than
version 6.1.
Update Groups
All groups provided by update manager. For information, see “Update
groups.”
Virtualization Groups
All groups provided by virtualization manager. For information, see
“Virtualization groups.”

Service and Support groups:

These predefined groups are available only if you have installed and activated the
Service and Support Manager plug-in. Service and Support Manager categorizes
systems into subgroups based on their service monitoring status.

This default group provides the following dynamic subgroups:


Excluded Systems
Contains resources that are ineligible for monitoring by Service and
Support Manager. The eligibility of a resource depends on many factors,
such as the type of resource, machine type, manufacturer, model, and serial
number.
Systems with Service Requests
Contains resources for which a service request has been opened with IBM
Support.
Monitored Systems
Contains resources that are being monitored by Service and Support
Manager.
Unknown Systems
Contains resources for which Service and Support Manager eligibility is
undetermined. The eligibility of a resource depends on many factors, such
as the type of resource, machine type, manufacturer, model, and serial
number. Service and Support Manager has not been able to determine the
resources' eligibility because the resource information is not available.

For more information on Service and Support Manager groups, see “Service and
Support Manager.”

Storage groups:

These predefined storage groups are shipped with IBM Systems Director so that
you can start working on storage configuration quickly, and can understand which
systems have which storage devices attached.

Do not delete or make changes to these predefined storage groups. Instead, make a
copy of one that you want to change and make changes to the copy.
BladeCenter Storage
Contains all systems that have IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller
Module storage for IBM Systems Director. This group is used to define
discovered storage contained within the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID
Controller Module itself. IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module
storage is included in this group as well as in the Network Storage group.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 113


Local Storage
Contains all systems that have Internal RAID Controllers installed. They
could be systems with traditional adapter cards, or IBM BladeCenter
systems with RAID daughter cards.
Network Storage
Contains all discovered external storage systems. These are the SAN
systems. They could be Fibre Channel, SAS storage systems, or iSCSI
systems. IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module storage is
included in this group as well as in the BladeCenter Storage group.
SMI-S Providers
Contains all systems that have SMI-S providers installed and running.
An example is a system that has installed the SMI-S Provider for IBM
Storage System DS4000.
Storage Subsystems and Volumes
Storage subsystem volume to computer system volume topology.
Systems and Volumes
Computer system volume to storage subsystem volume topology.

Update groups:

Update groups can be static or dynamic. Both types can be used in compliance
policies.
Static update groups
Contain individual updates that were explicitly chosen. Once established,
the membership changes only when you manually add or delete updates.
Static update groups can be used as a baseline for future comparison or
update deployment.
Dynamic update groups
Automatically contains updates based on selected update types. The
membership of this group changes as update information changes.

It is important to note that the membership of an update group is not resolved at


the time that a task using the group is scheduled. The membership of the update
group is resolved at the time that the task runs.

If you add a system group or an update group to an existing system group or


update group, this new, nested group will not be considered when the parent
system or update group is used for validation of compliance policies.

Virtualization groups:

IBM Systems Director organizes logical sets of resources into groups. Virtualization
manager provides a set of default or predefined groups for virtual resources.

The following table lists the names and descriptions of the groups provided by
virtualization manager.
Table 7. Virtualization manager groups
Group Description
Virtualization Groups Groups for managing virtualization
Platform Managers Systems capable of managing hosts or farms

114 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 7. Virtualization manager groups (continued)
Group Description
Platform Managers and Members Platform managers and their hosts or farms
Hosts Systems capable of hosting virtual servers
Virtual Servers Virtual servers
Virtual Servers and Hosts Virtual servers and their hosts
Guest Operating Systems Operating systems running on virtual
servers
Virtualization Systems Systems with virtualization capabilities,
attributes, or relationships
Virtual Farms Virtual farms

Groups member types


In IBM Systems Director, groups have a member type that restricts the kind of
resource that can be a member of the group. For example, if a group is assigned
the member type Server, then only resources that are servers can be members of
the group.

The following member types are available:


Any Contains all resources.
Group Contains other groups.

Note: This member type is not available for dynamic groups.


Managed System
Contains resources that are managed in IBM Systems Director by way of
Common Agent or Platform Agent. Agentless-managed systems are also
included.
Update
Contains software and firmware updates.

Creating a criteria-based dynamic group


Dynamic groups are based on specified system criteria. You can create a dynamic
group by specifying criteria that the attributes and properties of the systems must
match. IBM Systems Director automatically adds or removes systems to or from
the group when their attributes and properties change and affect their matches to
the group criteria.

The criteria available for selection are derived from inventory. For example, you
can quickly group existing systems by creating a dynamic group using the criterion
Windows operating system. You can further refine the systems that can be in the
dynamic group by using logical AND with an additional criterion selection of
“Windows systems with critical problems.” Then, create an event automation plan
to notify you when these systems have problems. You also can schedule tasks to
run on all systems that match a certain criterion, such as Collect AIX Inventory
on a group called AIX systems.

To create a dynamic group, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. In Navigate Resources, click Create Group.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 115


3. In the Group Editor wizard, the Welcome page is displayed. Click Next.
4. On the Name page, type a unique descriptive name for the group that you are
creating. Optionally, you also can type a description of the group. Click Next.
5. On the Type and Location page, select Dynamic from the Group type list.
6. From the Member type list, select the type of member that you want included
in the group. A member type acts like a filter. Only resources of the specified
type can be part of the group you are creating.
Any Group membership is unlimited. Any resource can be in the group,
including systems, software, and management applications.
Managed System
Group membership is limited to system types such as different type of
servers, fabric, farms, hardware control points, controllers, operating
systems, chassis, switches, and storage.
Update
Group membership is limited to updates types such as for firmware,
IBM Systems Director, and operating systems.
7. From the Location list, select the parent group to contain the group that you
are creating. In Navigate Resources, a parent group is created and is located
under Personal Groups.
8. Click Next.

Option Description
If you selected Any or Managed System The Define page is displayed. Continue to
the next step.
If you selected Update The Updates page is displayed. Go to step
15 on page 117.

9. On the Define page, click Add. The Add Criterion window is displayed.
10. Refine the criteria from which you can select.

Option Description
If you selected Any 1. In the Resource category list, select the
type of resource with the criteria that
you want to evaluate.
2. In the Type of device to add list, select
the device type to further refine the
available criteria.
If you selected Managed System In the Type of system to add list, select the
system type to further refine the available
criteria.

a. In the Select criteria to refine group contents list, expand the tree and
select a criterion for the dynamic group to evaluate. Your selection is
displayed below the list.
b. Click Operators to select how you want the criterion evaluated by the
value you provide.
c. Click Value to select the value by which you want to evaluate the
criterion. If you want to specify a custom value, select Use entry from
below and type the custom value in the field.

116 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Important: The custom value must match the value stored in the IBM
Systems Director Server database. Partial matches are not accepted. If the
value does not match, nothing is returned for this criterion.
d. Click OK. On the Define page, the criterion is displayed in the Criteria
preview field.
11. If you want to add additional criteria, click Add and repeat step 9 on page
116.
After adding another criterion, the Define page displays the logical AND and
the logical OR selections. These selections determine how the criterion that
you create now will affect the criterion you created previously.
You can use the logical AND only if your selected criteria belongs to the same
resource type or managed system type. For example, a criteria of
(Battery.description=’Sony’) AND (DiskDrive.NeedsCleaning=’true’) is
never true because a resource cannot be both a disk drive and a battery.
Therefore, if your criteria contain different resource types or managed system
types, the selection is set to logical OR and cannot be changed. If you do
select logical AND and subsequently add another criterion, the Add Criterion
window automatically displays the criteria that are valid for the resource type
or managed system type that you already selected.
12. If you want to change a criterion, select the criterion from the Criteria list and
click Edit. The Edit Criterion window is displayed with the settings for the
selected criterion. Change the settings and click OK.
13. If you want to delete a criterion, select the criterion from the Criteria list and
click Delete. A confirmation window is displayed; click Delete and the
selected criterion is deleted from the list.
14. Click Next and go to step 17.
15. On the Updates page, in the Available update types list, select the updates
that you want to add to the group and click Add. To make multiple selections,
press the Ctrl key and click your selections; then, click Add.
16. Click Next.
17. On the Summary page, verify the details of the group. If you need to make
changes, click Back; otherwise, click Finish.

The dynamic group is created and is displayed in Navigate Resources. A


confirmation message about the group creation is displayed also.
Related reference
mkgp command

Creating a static group


To make working with a set of resources easier, you can create a static group. For
example, you can create a static group for all the servers that you are responsible
for in your systems-management environment. Groups also can contain other
groups. For example, you can have a group called Development Systems that
contains three groups: one group for each development team.

To create a static group, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. In Navigate Resources, click Create Group.
3. In the Group Editor wizard, the Welcome page is displayed. Click Next.
4. On the Name page, type a unique descriptive name for the group that you are
creating. Optionally, you also can type a description of the group. Click Next.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 117


5. On the Type and Location page, select Static from the Group type list.
6. From the Member type list, select the type of member that you want included
in the group. A member type acts like a filter. Only resources of the specified
type can be part of the group you are creating.
Any Group membership is unlimited. Any resource can be in the group,
including systems, software, and management applications.
Managed System
Group membership is limited to system types such as different type of
servers, fabric, farms, hardware control points, controllers, operating
systems, chassis, switches, and storage.
Update
Group membership is limited to updates types such as for firmware,
IBM Systems Director, and operating systems.
Group Group membership is limited to other existing groups.
7. From the Location list, select the parent group to contain the group that you
are creating. In Navigate Resources, a parent group is created and is located
under Personal Groups.
8. Click Next.
9. On the Define page, select one or more groups of resources from the
Available list and click Add. You also can drill down into a group and select
one or more resources. If you want to remove a group or resource, select it
from the Selected list and click Remove.

Notes:
a. You cannot add a group's parent to itself. For example, if you define the
parent group location for Group1 to be Personal Groups, then you cannot
add Personal Groups to Group1.
b. If you select a resource to add, but the Add button is unavailable, then the
selected resource is not a valid selection due to its member type.
10. Click Next.
11. On the Summary page, verify the details of the group. If you need to make
changes, click Back; otherwise, click Finish.

The static group is created and is displayed in Navigate Resources. A confirmation


message about the group creation is displayed also.
Related reference
mkgp command

Editing a group
You can edit a group to change its name and description. If you are editing a static
group, you can edit the members of the group. If you are editing a dynamic group,
you can edit the membership criteria.

Note: You cannot edit default or predefined groups.

To edit a group, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Click Actions > Edit.
3. In the Group Editor wizard, you can edit the name and description of the
group. If you are editing a static group, you can edit the members of the group.
If you are editing a dynamic group, you can edit the membership criteria.

118 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. On the Summary page, verify your changes to the group. If you need to make
changes, click < Back; otherwise, click Finish.

The group is updated with your changes and is displayed in the Navigate
Resources. A confirmation message about the group change is displayed also.
Related reference
chgp command
chusergp command

Deleting a group
When a group is no longer useful, you can delete it.

Note: You cannot edit or delete static default groups.

To delete a group, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Select the group that you want to delete.
3. Click Actions > Delete.
Attention: The group will be deleted for all IBM Systems Director users.
4. A confirmation message is displayed. Click Delete to delete the group.

The group is deleted and is no longer displayed in the Navigate Resources.

While you can delete the Favorites and Health Summary groups, the next time you
open Health Summary, the groups are recreated. However, they will not have any
members.

If you delete a group that was used when scheduling a job, the job remains and is
active, but it does not run because it does not have a target system against which
to run.
Related reference
mkgp command

Adding a resource to an existing group


You can add one or more resources to an existing static group. This is useful when
new systems or resources are added to your systems-management environment
and you want to include them in groups that are already serving your needs.

To add one or more resources to an existing static group, complete the following
steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the resource or resources that you want to add to a static group.
3. Select one or more resources. Then, click Actions > Add to > Existing Group.
4. In the Add to Existing Group window, select one or more groups from the
Available list and click Add >. You also can drill down into a group and select
a subgroup. If you want to remove a group or resource, select it from the
Selected list and click < Remove.

Note: If the Add > button is unavailable, you cannot add your selected
resource to the selected group because of one of the following reasons:
v The selected group is a dynamic group. You can select only a static group.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 119


v The selection is not a group, but an individual resource.
v The resource might already be a member of that group.
5. Click OK.

The selected resources are added the static group. A confirmation message about
the addition is displayed. Click View Group to view the affected group
immediately.
Related reference
chgp command
chusergp command

Exporting a group
You can export a group to archive or back up the criteria that define a group. After
a group is exported, you can distribute it to a new instance of IBM Systems
Director Server by importing the group through the IBM Systems Director Web
interface.

Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off for
the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

To export a group, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Select one or more groups that you want to export.
3. Click Actions > Export Groups.
4. In the file download window for your Web browser, click Save to disk and
then click OK.
5. If your Web browser requires a location selection, provide it and click Save.

The group is exported and an XML file is saved to the location that you provided.
Related reference
lsgp command

Importing a group
You can import a previously exported group so that you can distribute that group
to a new instance of IBM Systems Director Server.

Note: To import groups from versions prior to IBM Systems Director 6.1, make
sure you use Group Export to export the group in the earlier version of IBM
Director.

To import a group, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Click Actions > Import Groups.
3. In the Group Import page, click Browse to navigate to the exported group file
that you want to import. Or, type the file name in the Select the file that you
want to import field.
4. Click OK. A progress indicator is displayed.

When the import is completed, a confirmation message is displayed and the group
is displayed in the Personal Group in Navigate Resources. If you want to view the

120 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


imported group in another group than Personal Group, select the imported group
and click Actions > Add to Existing Group.
Related reference
mkgp command

Finding and starting tasks


IBM Systems Director Web interface provides many tasks and many ways to start
these tasks. This section provides information about finding tasks as well as how
to start tasks. It also includes information about how to integrate external tasks
into IBM Systems Director Web interface.
Related concepts

eLearning: Navigating in IBM Systems Director

Launched tasks and the IBM Systems Director Launched


Tasks program
IBM Systems Director provide some tasks that start outside of the IBM Systems
Director Web interface. These tasks are launched tasks and are identified on menus

by the Launched tasks icon .

When you select a launched task, the task can be displayed in one of the following
ways:
v In another instance of your Web browser. The task provides its own Web
interface.
v As a separate program on your system desktop.
v The IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program is displayed and opens the
task that you selected.

IBM Systems Director provides some tasks that still require a client-based
application. This application is called the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks
program. The IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program can open the
following tasks:
v Event Action Editor (used to create advanced event actions)
v Event Filter Builder (used to create advanced event filters)
v File Transfer
v Command Automation (formerly called Process Management - Tasks)
v Remote Session
v SNMP Browser
v MIB Management

Note: The IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program is installed


automatically the first time you use a task that requires it. Because the IBM
Systems Director Launched Tasks program opens outside of the IBM Systems
Director Launched Tasks program, Java Web Start (JWS) is also provided for
installation. For more information, see “Downloading Java Web Start.”

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 121


Related reference

Troubleshooting for launched tasks

Finding a task
IBM Systems Director provides a wealth of tasks that you can use to manage your
system-management environment. While many tasks can be found in the IBM
Systems Director Web interface navigation area, the Actions menu, or in pop-up
menus, you can quickly and easily find any task using Find a Task. Then, you can
run the selected task. If it is a targeted task, a list of available target systems is
provided.

To find a task, you must be authorized to use that task. If it is a targeted task, you
must also have authorization to access the systems. For more information see
“Security.”

To find tasks quickly in the IBM Systems Director Web interface, complete the
following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Find a Task.

Note: Find a Task is also available on the Welcome page.


The Find a Task page opens and displays an alphabetical list of all available
tasks in your IBM Systems Director installation.
2. If you do not know the name of the task you want, go through the Find a Task
pages and view the descriptions of the tasks until you recognize the task that
you want. If you know all or part of the name of the task you want to find,
type the task name in the Search the table field and click Search. All of the
table columns are searched for the word that you typed. Any task that has the
entered word in any of its columns is displayed.
3. Click the task that you wanted to find to start it.
4. If the task requires a resource on which to work, the task will request the
resource. If the task does not require a resource, then the task opens
immediately.
Related reference
lstask command

Starting tasks
You can choose from several methods of starting tasks in the IBM Systems Director
Web interface.

Start a task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area in any of
the following ways:
v Click Find a Task. On the Find a Task page, you can search for and start a
specific task. For more information, see “Finding a task.”

Note: You can select a noninteractive task and click Actions > Run to schedule
the task to start immediately or at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”
v Expand the sections in the navigation pane to view and click available tasks.
v Expand Task Management and click External Application Launch. You can
configure other applications to run from the IBM Systems Director Web
interface. For more information, see “Integrating external applications.”

122 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Click My Startup Pages. Any pages that you have saved to your Startup page
are displayed here. A saved page includes any tasks that can be run from that
page. For more information, see “Customizing the Web interface.”
v Click any of the tasks available in the navigation area.

Start a task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface content area in any of the
following ways:
v In a table view, right-click a resource and select a task.

Tip: You can run some tasks on multiple resources simultaneously. To perform a
task on multiple resources, select one or more resources. Then, right-click one of
the selected resources and select a task.
v In a table or topology map view, select one or more resources. Then, click
Actions and click a task.
v In the topology map view, right-click a resource and select a task.
v In the topology map view, select the resource. Then, in the Details palette,
right-click the resource and select a task.
v For applicable tasks, you can select Run Now or Schedule. You can schedule a
task to start immediately or at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”

Some tasks in IBM Systems Director require a client-based application: the IBM
Systems Director Launched Tasks program. This program is installed automatically
the first time you use a task that requires it. Because the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program opens outside of the IBM Systems Director Web interface,
Java Web Start (JWS) is required. If your Web browser does not have JWS installed
already, a prompt is displayed to download and install JWS. If your Web browser
has a version of JWS installed that is not compatible with the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program, a compatible version of JWS is installed automatically.
For more information, see “Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks
program.”
Related reference
runtask command

Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program


Some tasks in IBM Systems Director require a client-based application: the IBM
Systems Director Launched Tasks program. This program is installed automatically
the first time you use a task that requires it. Because the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program opens outside of the IBM Systems Director Web interface,
Java Web Start (JWS) is required. If your Web browser does not have JWS installed
already, a prompt is displayed to download and install JWS. If your Web browser
has a version of JWS installed that is not compatible with the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program, a compatible version of JWS is installed automatically.

Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off for
the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

However, if the Java Web Start installation does not succeed as expected, complete
the following steps to enable the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program
and start launched tasks using the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program:
1. Download the Java Web Start software to your browser system. For more
information, see “Downloading Java Web Start.”

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 123


2. Make sure that your browser system is configured to use Java Web Start. For
more information, see “Configuring Web browsers to use Java Web Start.”
3. Start a launched task. If you are starting a launched task for the first time on
your browser system, an automatic installation of the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program starts.

Note: When starting tasks from the IBM Systems Director Web interface using
Mozilla Firefox, the Opening launch.jnlp window might open and display a
message asking what to do with the .jnlp file. To make sure that the launched
task can proceed and that this message is not displayed in the future, it is
recommended that you select Open with Java Web Start Launcher and Do this
automatically for files like this from now on.
Related reference

Troubleshooting for launched tasks

Downloading Java Web Start


If you want to use the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program, the Java
Web Start (JWS) software must be installed on your browser system. JWS is
required on your browser system to enable launched tasks in IBM Systems
Director.

To download JWS, complete the following steps:


1. If your browser system requires JWS, a message window is displayed.
Complete the following applicable steps.

Option Description
For Windows and AIX Click Download Now.
For Linux 1. Select the applicable (Java Runtime
Environment) JRE for your browser
system.
2. Click Download Now.

2. Select to save the file to your hard disk drive or open and run the file
immediately, as applicable for your operating system.
3. When the JWS installation is complete, retry the launched task that you wanted
to use.

Configuring Web Browsers to use Java Web Start


In order to launch tasks, including those that use the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program, Web browsers must use the IBM Java Web Start program
that is installed with the IBM Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

Updating the Firefox Web browser to use the IBM Java Web Start program:

In order to launch tasks, including those that use the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program, the Firefox Web browser must use the IBM Java Web
Start program that is installed with the IBM Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

To update the Firefox Web browser, version 2.0.0.6, to use the IBM Java Web Start
program, complete the following steps:
1. In the Web browser, click Tools > Options.
2. In the Options window, click Content from the toolbar.
3. On the Content page, click Manage.

124 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. In the Download Actions window, select the JNLP file type and click Change
Action.

Note: If the JNLP file type is not available, see “Associating the JNLP file type
with the Java Web Start program (Firefox).”
5. In the Change Action window, select Open them with this application and
click Browse.
6. Navigate to the Java Web Start program, javaws.exe, located in the IBM JRE
directory.
7. In the bin directory, select the javaws.exe program and click Open.
8. In the Change Action window, click OK.
9. In the Download Actions window, click Close.
10. In the Options window, click OK. The Java Web Start program and the IBM
JRE are now configured for use with the IBM Systems Director Launched
Tasks program and other launched tasks.

Associating the JNLP file type with the Java Web Start program (Firefox):

If, while updating the Firefox Web browser to use the IBM Java Web Start
program, you determine that the JNLP file type is not available for configuration
by way of the Firefox Web browser, you must associate the JNLP file type with the
IBM Java Web Start program.

To associate the JNLP file type with the Java Web Start program, complete the
following steps:
1. Click the IBM Systems Director task that required Java Web Start.
2. In the Open with list, select Other.
3. Navigate to the Java Web Start program, javaws.exe, located in the IBM JRE
directory.
4. In the bin directory, select the javaws.exe program and click Open.
5. In the Opening launch.jnlp window, click Do this automatically for files like
this from now on.
6. Click OK. The task launches.

Updating the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser to use the IBM Java Web
Start program:

In order to launch tasks, including those that use the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program, the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser must use
the IBM Java Web Start program that is installed with the IBM Java Runtime
Environment (JRE).

To update the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser, versions 6.0 or 7.0, to use
the IBM Java Web Start program, complete the following steps:
1. Start the Windows Explorer program.
2. Click Tools > Folder Options.
3. In the Folder Options window, click the File Types tab.
4. On the File Type page, select the JNLP file type and view the information in
the Details area.

Note: If the JNLP file type is not available, see “Associating the JNLP file type
with the Java Web Start program (MSIE).”

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 125


5. If the Details area reports that the JNLP file type has customized behavior,
complete the following steps:
a. Click Restore. The default behavior for JNLP files, opening with the Java
Web Start executable, is restored.
b. Click Advanced.
6. In the Edit File Type window, click Edit.
7. In the Editing action for type window, click Browse.
8. Navigate to the Java Web Start program, javaws.exe, located in the IBM JRE
directory.
9. In the bin directory, select the javaws.exe program and click Open.
10. In the Editing action for type window, type the following string to the end of
the information in the Application used to perform action field: "%1"

Note: Be sure to type a space between the information and the new string.
11. Click OK.
12. In the Edit File Type window, click OK.
13. In the Folder Options window, click Close. The Java Web Start program and
the IBM JRE are now configured for use with the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program and other launched tasks.

Associating the JNLP file type with the Java Web Start program (MSIE):

If, while updating the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser to use the IBM
Java Web Start program, you determine that the JNLP file type is not available for
configuration, you must associate the JNLP file type with the IBM Java Web Start
program.

To associate the JNLP file type with the Java Web Start program, complete the
following steps:
1. Start the Windows Explorer program.
2. Click Tools > Folder Options.
3. In the Folder Options window, click the File Types tab.
4. On the File Types page, click New.
5. In the File Extension field, type jnlp and click OK.
6. On the File Types page, select JNLP in the Registered file types list and click
Advanced.
7. In the Edit File Type window, clear the Confirm open after download check
box and click New.
8. In the New Action window, select the Use DDE check box.
9. In the Action field, type &Launch.
10. In the Application field, type javaws.
11. In the Topic field, type System.
12. Click Browse.
13. Navigate to the Java Web Start program, javaws.exe, located in the IBM JRE
directory.
14. In the bin directory, select the javaws.exe program and click Open.
15. Click OK.
16. In the Edit File Type window, click OK.

126 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


17. In the Folder Options window, click Close. The Java Web Start program and
the IBM JRE are now configured for use with the IBM Systems Director
Launched Tasks program and other launched tasks.

Configuring Secure Sockets Layer between IBM Systems


Director and the Web browser client
IBM Systems Director Server provides, by default, a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
certificate that supports HTTPS connections between IBM Systems Director Server
and the Web browser client. However, to ensure server authentication, data
privacy, and data integrity, you must replace the default certificate with either a
self-signed certificate or a certificate that is signed by a certificate authority (CA)
and you must change the keystore password.

It is not required that you use SSL to secure the network traffic between your
management server and client browser. However, configuring SSL ensures data
integrity and data confidentiality between the management server and Web
browser client. This protection is especially important if you access the IBM
Systems Director from outside your network or if you use the launched tasks
feature of the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

Note: Make sure that the host name you specify in the Common Name field of the
SSL certificate matches the host name that you specify in the URL that you use to
access the Web interface. For example, if you specify a long name for the host
name in the Common Name field of the certificate, you must specify a long name
in the URL. If these host names do not match, you might receive errors when you
try to open the Web interface or start launched tasks. Follow the instructions in the
following procedure to make sure that you specify the correct host name in the
Common Name field of the certificate.

To replace the default certificate with a new certificate and to change the keystore
password for SSL, complete the following steps:
1. Delete the default certificate. For information see “Deleting the default
certificate.”
2. Create a new certificate. You can create either a self-signed certificate or request
and receive a CA signed certificate.
v To create a self-signed certificate, see “Creating a self-signed certificate.”
v To request and receive a CA signed certificate, see “Requesting a CA signed
certificate” and “Receiving a CA signed certificate.”
3. Update the Web container properties. For information see “Updating the Web
container properties.”
4. Update the Web browser with the new certificate. For information see
“Updating the Web browser with the new certificate.”

Deleting the default certificate:

IBM Systems Director Server provides, by default, a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
certificate that supports HTTPS connections between IBM Systems Director Server
and the Web browser client. You must delete this default certificate before you can
replace it with either a self-signed certificate or a CA signed certificate. Also, you
must change the keystore password.

Note: Back up any files before you edit them.

To delete the default certificate, complete the following steps:


1. Stop IBM Systems Director Server by completing the applicable steps:

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 127


Option Description
For Linux Type the following command: smstop
For Windows 1. Right-click My Computer and select
Manage.
2. In the Computer Management window,
expand Services and Applications >
Services.
3. In the Services pane, right-click IBM
Systems Director Server and select Stop.
4. Exit from the Computer Management
window.

2. Start the IBM Key Management program by typing the applicable command.

Option Description
For Linux install_root/jre/bin/ikeyman
For Windows install_root\jre\bin\ikeyman.exe

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
3. To open the default keystore file, click Key Database File > Open.
4. In the Key database type list, select JKS.
5. Click Browse and navigate to the applicable default keystore file:

Option Description
For Linux install_root/lwi/security/keystore/
ibmjsse2.jks
For Windows install_root\lwi\security\keystore\
ibmjsse2.jks

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
6. Select the default keystore file and click Open; then, click OK.
7. In the Password Prompt window, specify the default password for the default
keystore file and click OK. The default keystore file password for IBM Systems
Director is ibmpassw0rd.
8. In the Key database content pane, select the default personal certificate named
lwiks and click Delete.

Next, you must create a new certificate.


v If you want to create a self-signed certificate, go to “Creating a self-signed
certificate.”
v If you want to request a CA signed certificate, see “Requesting a CA signed
certificate.”

Creating a self-signed certificate:

Self-signed certificates are certificates that you create yourself for private use. After
you create a self-signed certificate, you can use it immediately. Because anyone can

128 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


create self-signed certificates, they are not considered publicly trusted certificates.
Therefore, use self-signed certificates only on a temporary basis while you test
your environment. You can replace the default certificate with a self-signed
certificate.

Before you complete this procedure, you must delete the default certificate. For
information see “Deleting the default certificate.”

Notes:
1. Back up any files before you edit them.
2. Messages and settings might differ depending on your Web browser and the
version of Java Web Start that you are running.

Important: If you want to request a CA signed certificate, do not perform this


procedure. Instead, see “Requesting a CA signed certificate.”

To create a self-signed certificate, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Key Management program, click Create > New Self-Signed
Certificate.
2. In the Create New Self-Signed Certificate window, in the Key Label field,
specify a label for the new certificate, for example, DirServer.
3. In the Version list, select X509 V3.
4. In the Key Size field, accept the default value.
5. In the Common Name field, specify the fully-qualified host name of the
server for which you are creating the certificate.

Note: This host name must match the host name that appears in the URL you
specify in your Web browser to reach IBM Systems Director Server. In most
cases, you must specify the fully-qualified host name. However, if you use a
short name in your URL, you must specify a short name for the Common
Name.
6. In the Organization field, type the name of your organization.
7. In the Country or region list, accept the default value.
8. In the Validity Period field, specify the lifetime of the certificate in days or
accept the default value.
9. Click OK.
10. To change the default keystore file password, click Key Database File >
Change Password.
11. In the Change Password window, specify and confirm a new password and
click OK.
12. To exit the IBM Key Management program, click Key Database File > Exit.

Next, you must update the Web container properties. Go to “Updating the Web
container properties.”

Requesting a CA signed certificate:

You can request a digital certificate from a certificate authority (CA). Because
certificate authorities are public entities that issue certificates to identify other
entities, CA signed certificates provide a level of public trust. Therefore, this type
of certificate is better suited for your production environment.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 129


Before you complete this procedure, you must delete the default certificate. For
information see “Deleting the default certificate.”

Important: If you are creating a self-signed certificate, do not perform this


procedure.

You must create a certificate-signing request (CSR) to request a digital certificate


from a CA. To create a certificate-signing request, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Key Management program, click Create > New Certificate Request.
2. In the Create New Key and Certificate Request window, in the Key Label field,
type a label for the new certificate, for example, DirServer.
3. In the Key Size field, accept the default value.
4. In the Common Name field, specify the fully-qualified host name of the server
for which you are creating the certificate.

Note: This host name must match the host name that appears in the URL you
specify in your Web browser to reach IBM Systems Director Server. In most
cases, you must specify the fully-qualified host name. However, if you use a
short name in your URL, you must specify a short name for the Common
Name.
5. In the Organization field, type the name of your organization.
6. In the Country or region list, accept the default value.
7. In the Enter the name of a file in which to store the certificate request field,
type a file name or click Browse to select a file in which to store the certificate
request, for example, DirServerSecPubCertreq.arm.
8. Click OK.
9. Send the certificate-signing request file to the CA. See the CA Web site for
specific instructions about requesting a new certificate. You can request either a
test certificate or a production certificate from the CA. However, in a
production environment, you must request a production certificate.

Next, you must receive the CA signed certificate. Go to “Receiving a CA signed


certificate.”

Receiving a CA signed certificate:

After the certificate authority (CA) accepts the certificate-signing request, the CA
processes the request and verifies your identity. The CA sends the signed certificate
back to you by way of e-mail. You must receive and save the new certificate in the
default keystore file.

Before you complete this procedure, you must create and submit a
certificate-signing request. For information see “Requesting a CA signed
certificate.”

Notes:
1. Back up any files before you edit them.
2. Messages and settings might differ depending on your Web browser and the
version of Java Web Start that you are running.
3. This procedure documents how to receive a signed certificate with a file
extension of .arm from a CA into the IBM Key Management program. If your
certificate has a different file extension, see the IKeyMan User's Guide. Go to the
IBM Support and Download Web site at www.ibm.com/support/us and search
using the document number SC23-6510-00.

130 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


If you are importing a certificate with a file extension of .pfx and errors
indicate that the certificate store is corrupt, see Resolving the iKeyman Corrupted
Database Message. Go to the IBM Support and Download Web site at
www.ibm.com/support/us and search using the reference number PRS2855.

Important: If you are creating a self-signed certificate, do not perform this


procedure.

To receive a CA signed certificate, complete the following steps:


1. If the CA sends the new certificate to you as part of an e-mail message, you
must cut and paste the certificate from the e-mail message and save it in a
certificate file, for example, DirServerSecPubCert.arm.

Note: The e-mail message from the CA might include supplemental text in
front of the certificate and after the certificate. For example, you might see the
text BEGIN CERTIFICATE in front of the certificate and END CERTIFICATE after
the certificate. In this case, make sure that you cut and paste the supplemental
text along with the certificate text.
2. Save the certificate file in the applicable directory:

Option Description
For Linux install_root/lwi/security/keystore
For Windows install_root\lwi\security\keystore

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
3. Start the IBM Key Management program by typing the applicable command.

Option Description
For Linux install_root/jre/bin/ikeyman
For Windows install_root\jre\bin\ikeyman.exe

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
4. To open the default keystore file, click Key Database File > Open.
5. In the Key database type list, select JKS.
6. Click Browse and navigate to the applicable default keystore file:

Option Description
For Linux install_root/lwi/security/keystore/
ibmjsse2.jks
For Windows install_root\lwi\security\keystore\
ibmjsse2.jks

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
7. Select the default keystore file and click Open; then, click OK.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 131


8. In the Password Prompt window, specify the default password for the default
keystore file and click OK. The default keystore file password for IBM
Systems Director is ibmpassw0rd.
9. In the Key database content pane, select Personal Certificates from the list.
10. Click Receive.
11. In the Receive Certificate from a File window, in the Data type list, select
Base64-encoded ASCII data.
12. In the Certificate file name field, specify the name of the certificate file that
you created when you received the certificate from the CA, for example,
DirServerSecPubCert.arm.
13. In the Location field, specify the applicable directory path:

Option Description
For Linux install_root/lwi/security/keystore
For Windows install_root\lwi\security\keystore

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
14. Click OK.
15. In the Enter a Label window, specify a label for the certificate, for example,
DirServerSec.
16. Click OK.
17. Optional: Add the public version of the CA signed certificate to the Web
browser's truststore file.
The public version of the certificate contains all identifying information as
well as the public key associated with the certificate. This optional step can
provide additional security within your SSL configuration. The Web browser
can determine whether the server presents a certificate that is signed by a
trusted signer. If the browser determines that the certificate is not signed by a
trusted signer, the browser displays a warning which alerts you to a possible
security breach. Configuring SSL for the browser is browser-specific. See your
browser documentation for instructions.
18. To change the default keystore file password, click Key Database File >
Change Password.
19. In the Change Password window, specify and confirm a new password and
click OK.
20. To exit the IBM Key Management program, click Key Database File > Exit.

Next, you must update the Web container properties. Go to “Updating the Web
container properties.”

Updating the Web container properties:

Because you changed the keystore password, you must update the Web container
properties with the new keystore password.

Before you perform this procedure, you must create a new certificate. You can
create either a self-signed certificate or request and receive a CA-signed certificate:
v To create a self-signed certificate, see “Creating a self-signed certificate.”
v To request and receive a CA signed certificate, see “Requesting a CA signed
certificate” and “Receiving a CA signed certificate.”

132 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To update the Web container properties, you do not edit properties directly within
the webcontainer.properties file. Instead, you must create a file named sslconfig in
the same directory, edit the properties in the sslconfig file, and restart IBM Systems
Director Server. The process of restarting IBM Systems Director Server encrypts the
new password in the Web container properties.

Notes:
1. Back up any files before you edit them.
2. Messages and settings might differ depending on your Web browser and the
version of Java Web Start that you are running.

To update the Web container properties, complete the following steps:


1. Change to the applicable directory:

Option Description
For Linux install_root/lwi/conf
For Windows install_root\lwi\conf

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
2. Change the name of the webcontainer.properties file to
webcontainer.properties.bak.
3. In the same directory, create a file named sslconfig and copy the contents of
webcontainer.properties.bak to the sslconfig file.
4. Using a text editor, edit the sslconfig file.

Notes:
a. Specify only plain text values for the passwords in the sslconfig file.
b.
5. Specify com.ibm.ssl.keyStorePassword.secure_port=new_password Where
v secure_port is the secure port that IBM Systems Director Server uses. Use the
secure port value indicated in your properties file.
v new_password is the password that you set in one of the following steps:
– Step 11 on page 129 in “Creating a self-signed certificate”
– Step 19 on page 132 in “Receiving a CA-signed certificate”
6. Specify the default password ibmpassw0rd for the truststore file, in plain text:
com.ibm.ssl.trustStorePassword.secure_port=ibmpassw0rd

where secure_port is the secure port that IBM Systems Director Server uses.
Use the secure port value indicated in your properties file.
7. Delete the line sslEnabled=true from the sslconfig file.
8. Save the sslconfig file.
9. Restart IBM Systems Director Server by completing the applicable steps.

Option Description
For Linux Type the following command: smstart

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 133


Option Description
For Windows 1. Right-click My Computer and select
Manage.
2. In the Computer Management window,
expand Services and Applications >
Services.
3. In the Services pane, right-click IBM
Director Server and select Start.
4. Exit from the Computer Management
window.

When you restart IBM Systems Director Server, the sslconfig file is used to
automatically create a new webcontainer.properties file and encrypt the new
password in this file. After the new webcontainer.properties file has been
created, IBM Systems Director Server deletes the sslconfig file because it is no
longer needed.
10. After you start and connect to IBM Systems Director Server, you can delete
the webcontainer.properties.bak file manually.

Next, you must update the Web browser with the new certificate. Go to “Updating
the Web browser with the new certificate.”

Updating the Web browser with the new certificate:

You must update your Web browser with the new certificate.

Before you perform this procedure, you must update the Web container properties.
For information see “Updating the Web container properties.”

To update the Web browser with the new certificate, complete the following steps.

Note: If you performed step 17 on page 132 in “Receiving a CA signed certificate”


or if the public version of the CA signed certificate is already stored in the browser
truststore file, go to step 11 on page 135. Some browsers contain the public version
of well known CA signed certificates.
1. In a Web browser, type the following URL to point to IBM Systems Director
Server: http://server_name:port_number/ibm/console, where server_name is
the host name of IBM Systems Director Server and port_number is the port for
IBM Systems Director Server. The default port is 8421.

Option Description
For Microsoft Internet Explorer A Security Alert window is displayed, for
example, you might see the following
message: The security certificate was
issued by a company you have not chosen
to trust. View the certificate to
determine whether you want to trust the
certifying authority. Continue to step 2
on page 135.
For Firefox A Website Certified by an Unknown
Authority window is displayed. Click
Accept this certificate permanently and
then click OK. You Web browser is updated
with the new certificate.

134 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. In the Security Alert window, click View Certificate.
3. In the Certificate window, click Install Certificate.
4. In the Certificate Import Wizard, on the Welcome page, click Next.
5. On the Certificate Store page, select the way that you want to store the
certificate and click Next.
6. On the Summary page, click Finish. A Security Warning window is displayed.
7. In the Security Warning window, click Yes.
8. In the Certificate Import Wizard window, click OK.
9. In the Certificate window, click OK.
10. In the Security Alert window, click Yes.
11. When you use a launched task in the IBM Systems Director Web interface, the
following message is displayed: The application's digital signature has
been verified. Do you want to run the application? Be sure to select
Always trust content from this publisher and click Yes.

Using External Application Launch


Use External Application Launch to integrate third-party management software
and other programs into the IBM Systems Director Web interface user interface.
Before you can start an external application from IBM Systems Director Web
interface, you must configure the external application so that it is recognized by
IBM Systems Director.

To integrate an external application into IBM Systems Director, complete the


following steps:
1. Define the external-application task by creating a command-task file. For
information see “Creating a command-task file.”
2. Optional: Specify a national-language task title for the command-task file. For
information see “Specifying national-language task titles.”
3. Copy the command-task file and any resource-bundle files to the management
server (where IBM Systems Director Server is installed) in the
install_root/classes/extensions directory.
4. If you intend to integrate the external applications into an instance of IBM
Systems Director Web interface that is not running on the management server,
configure the remote IBM Systems Director Web interface for
external-application tasks. For more information, see “Configuring
external-application tasks for browser systems.”
5. Refresh the external applications. For more information, see “Refreshing
external-application tasks in the IBM Systems Director Web interface.”
6. Select and start an external application. For more information, see “Starting
external-application tasks in the IBM Systems Director Web interface.”

You can restrict the use of the external-application task to specific users. For more
information, see “Authorizing users to IBM Systems Director.”

External-application tasks
External-application tasks are user-defined tasks that are displayed in the IBM
Systems Director Web interface. They can start a command, process, or application
that is external to IBM Systems Director and runs on the browser system or
management server.

External-application tasks are defined in IBM Systems Director using a


combination of Java resources including command-task files and Java resource

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 135


bundles that you create. These resources specify the application to be started, the
task title, and the way that the task is started in the IBM Systems Director Web
interface. External Application Launch tasks also have resources for each supported
language defined in the command-task file.

External-application tasks can be targeted, untargeted, or both.

Targeted and untargeted tasks:

All IBM Systems Director tasks (including native IBM Systems Director tasks, tasks
added by installing plug-ins, and external application tasks) are either targeted,
untargeted, or both, depending on how the task can be started.
Targeted tasks
Targeted tasks are tasks for which a resource is specified when the task is
started. Targeted tasks are started by right-clicking a resource and selecting
the task. Typically, a targeted task performs an action on the resource
specified as the target. Examples of targeted tasks are Remote Session and
SNMP Browser.
When an external application is started as a targeted task, information
about the specified target is provided. If one or more system attribute
names are configured, the available values for each target are passed to the
application using environment variables. If no system attributes are
configured, the IP address, MAC address, and computer name are passed
to the application by way of environment variables.
Untargeted tasks
Untargeted tasks are tasks for which no resource is specified when the task
is started. Untargeted tasks are started in the following ways:
v By selecting the task in the IBM Systems Director Web interface
navigation pane
v By selecting the task from the Actions menu or pop-up menu
Untargeted tasks perform actions that are not specific to a targeted
resource, perform actions that apply to all resources, or provide their own
interface for selecting resources on which to perform actions.
Tasks that are both targeted and untargeted
A task can be both a targeted task and an untargeted task, with behavior
reflecting the manner in which the task is started. The Inventory task is an
example of such a task: if started from a resource’s pop-up menu, it
displays information for that resource only; if started from the IBM
Systems Director Web interface navigation pane, it displays information for
all resources.

Command-task file location and naming conventions:

All command-task files must meet specific file-location and naming-convention


requirements.
v Command-task files must reside on the management server in the
classes/extensions directory, under the directory in which IBM Systems Director
Server is installed. Command-task files that are not in this directory are ignored.
v Command-task file names must end with the .CMDExt extension, which is not
case-sensitive.
v The file name and extension are not case sensitive.
v Do not use underscores in file names. IBM Systems Director uses the file name
to sort the external-application tasks in the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

136 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


The sort function replaces spaces in the file name with underscores. File names
that are identical with the only variant being spaces and underscores are
considered duplicates, and only one will be displayed as an external-application
task in the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

Command-task file parameters:

The Command-task parameters table lists the parameters that can be specified in a
command-task file. Parameters are listed here in alphabetical order.

Important: Consider the following information when working with command-task


file parameters:
v Both parameter names and values are case sensitive.
v Each parameter must be defined on a separate line.
v If the same parameter is specified more than once, the last parameter value in
the file is used by IBM Systems Director.
v If a command-task file includes parameters that are no longer supported, the
affected parameters are ignored.
v You must use ISO 8859-1 character encoding when editing the command-task
file. Characters that cannot be represented directly in the ISO 8859-1 character
set can be specified with valid ISO 8859-1 Unicode-escape sequences.
v Command-task files use Java-properties-file formatting; therefore, any backslash
(\) or forward slash (/) character must be coded as a double backslash (\\) or
forward slash (//) (for example, dir c:\\tmp\\backup1 /s).
v Environment-variable values must have only one backslash or forward slash.
v Windows-based systems use backslashes (\) to delimit directories in a directory
path. AIX-based systems and Web addresses use forward slashes (/) as
delimiters. This information uses backslashes (\) to delimit directories in paths
that apply to all operating systems; depending on the system that you are using,
you might have to enter the directory path differently than shown.
v No error-checking is performed on command-task files, so you must be careful
when editing them. Parameter names that do not exactly match expected
parameters are ignored.
v For information about setting a task title using a national-language string, see
“Specifying national-language task titles.”

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 137


Table 8. Command-task parameters
Parameter name Description Allowed values
CheckFileExistsNow.Unix The attribute that shows or hides the Possible values are:
CheckFileExistsNow.Windows external-application task in the IBM true If the file specified
Systems Director Web interface based on by the FileExists
the result of the applicable FileExists parameter exists on
parameter (FileExists.Windows or the browser
FileExists.Unix). system, then IBM
Systems Director
Web interface
displays the task. If
the file does not
exist, then IBM
Systems Director
Web interface hides
the task.
false IBM Systems
Director Web
interface always
displays the task.
Client.x.Resource The fully qualified Java class name of a A valid resource name for a
valid target type for the managed-resource type in
external-application task. The target type IBM Systems Director. For
identifies the type of resources for which the list of managed-resource
the external-application task can be types, see
targeted. “Managed-resource types
Important: To use this parameter, you for the Client.x.Resource
must set the Targeted parameter to a valid parameter.”
value other than none; one, multi,
none|one, and none|multi are valid values.

To define multiple targets, replace x with a


unique non-negative integer for each target
class. For example, the following two lines
specify that the external-application task
can use either a physical platform or a
logical platform as a target:
Client.0.Resource=OperatingSystem
Client.1.Resource=Server

138 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 8. Command-task parameters (continued)
Parameter name Description Allowed values
CommandString The command string to be run on a UNIX, A valid command line for
CommandString.Linux Linux, VMware, or Windows (including an external application
CommandString.Unix Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows running on a browser
CommandString.VMware Vista) browser system. system.
CommandString.Windows Note:
CommandString.Windows2003 v You can specify both
CommandString.WindowsXP CommandString.Server and
CommandString.WindowsVista CommandString parameters if you want
to specify a browser system and
management server synchronized task in
which both a noninteractive task and an
interactive task are launched at the same
time.
v If you specify more than one
CommandString parameters that apply
to the same operating system, IBM
Systems Director uses the most specific
parameter. For example, if you specify
CommandString.Windows and
CommandString.Windows2003
parameters, IBM Systems Director uses
the CommandString.Windows2003
parameter.
CommandString.Server The command string to be run on a UNIX, A valid command line for
CommandString.Server.Linux Linux, VMware, or Windows (including an external application on a
CommandString.Server.Unix Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows management server.
CommandString.Server.VMware Vista) management server.
CommandString.Server.Windows Note:
CommandString.Server.Windows2003 v You can specify both
CommandString.Server.WindowsXP CommandString.Server and
CommandString.Server.WindowsVista CommandString parameters if you want
to specify a browser system and
management server synchronized task in
which both a noninteractive task and an
interactive task are launched at the same
time.
v If you specify more than one
CommandString.Server parameters that
apply to the same operating system, IBM
Systems Director uses the most specific
parameter. For example, if you specify
CommandString.Server.Windows and
CommandString.Server.Windows2003
parameters, IBM Systems Director uses
the CommandString.Server.Windows2003
parameter.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 139


Table 8. Command-task parameters (continued)
Parameter name Description Allowed values
Cwd The path name of the directory on a UNIX, A valid directory on the
Cwd.Linux Linux, VMware, or Windows (including browser system.
Cwd.Unix Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows
Cwd.VMware Vista) browser system from which the
Cwd.Windows external-application task must be started.
Cwd.Windows2003 Specify this parameter only if the
Cwd.WindowsXP command needs to start in a specific
Cwd.WindowsVista directory.
Note: If you specify more than one Cwd
parameters that apply to the same
operating system, IBM Systems Director
uses the most specific parameter. For
example, if you specify Cwd.Windows and
Cwd.Windows2003 parameters, IBM
Systems Director uses the
Cwd.Windows2003 parameter.
Cwd.Server The path name of the directory on a UNIX, A valid directory on the
Cwd.Server.Linux Linux, VMware or Windows (including management server.
Cwd.Server.Unix Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows
Cwd.Server.VMware Vista) management server from which the
Cwd.Server.Windows external-application task must be started.
Cwd.Server.Windows2003 Specify this parameter only if the
Cwd.Server.WindowsXP command needs to start in a specific
Cwd.Server.WindowsVista directory.
Note: If you specify more than one
Cwd.Server parameters that apply to the
same operating system, IBM Systems
Director uses the most specific parameter.
For example, if you specify
Cwd.Server.Windows and
Cwd.Server.Windows2003 parameters, IBM
Systems Director uses the
Cwd.Server.Windows2003 parameter.
FileExists Specify a qualified path or name for a file The path and name of an
FileExists.Windows that must exist on the browser system existing file on the browser
FileExists.Unix before launching the task. If IBM Systems system.
Director does not find the specified file, a
message is displayed and the external
application does not launch.

If you do not specify a directory in the


FileExists parameter, the default path is
temp/.ibm/lic where temp is the
operating-system-specific temp directory
on the browser system.

140 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 8. Command-task parameters (continued)
Parameter name Description Allowed values
ShellRequired A flag that indicates whether you want to Specify one of the following
start a persistent shell on the management values:
console in which to start the external
true Start the
application. Set this parameter if the
external-application
application requires an interactive window
task in a persistent
or advanced command-line syntax, such as
shell.
wildcard expansion.
false Do not start the
The shell is started using one of the external-application
following commands: task in a persistent
Windows shell. This is the
start cmd.exe /k default value.
.
UNIX or Linux
bash –c
If this parameter is omitted or set to false,
the command string is issued without
starting a persistent shell. If this parameter
is set to true, any command output to the
shell is displayed in a command window
that you can scroll and later close.
ShellRequired.Server A flag that indicates whether you want to Specify one of the following
start a persistent shell on a managed values:
system in which to start the external
true Start the
application. Set this parameter if the
external-application
application requires an interactive window
task in a persistent
or advanced command-line syntax, such as
shell.
wildcard expansion.
false Do not start the
The shell is started using one of the external-application
following commands: task in a persistent
Windows shell. This is the
start cmd.exe /k default value.

UNIX or Linux
bash –c
If this parameter is omitted or set to false,
the command string is issued without
starting a persistent shell. If this parameter
is set to true, any command output to the
shell is displayed in a command window
that you can scroll and later close.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 141


Table 8. Command-task parameters (continued)
Parameter name Description Allowed values
System.Property.x A requested system property (as defined in A system property
the managed resource) that is specified for associated with one of the
each managed resource property required Client.x.Resource target
by the command. Each property is passed types.
as an environment variable at launch time,
for each targeted system chosen. Each
property is assigned a unique environment
variable name, and these environment
variable names can be used in the
CommandString or can be accessed by a
script launching the application. For
example, to pass the computer name of the
targeted system, set the parameter to:

System.Property.x=Name

where x is the index number assigned to


the system property.

142 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 9. Command-task parameters, cont.
Parameter name Description Allowed values
Targeted A flag that specifies whether the Specify one of the following values:
external-application task can be
none An untargeted task. The task
started as a targeted task, an
can be opened by selecting it
untargeted task, or both. If this
in the IBM Systems Director
parameter is omitted, the value is set
Web interface navigation
to one.
pane, from the Actions
menu, or from the pop-up
menu.
one A targeted task. The task can
be started by selecting a
target system and
right-clicking the task. This
is the default value.
none|one
Tasks that are both targeted
and untargeted. The task can
be opened by selecting it in
the IBM Systems Director
Web interface navigation
pane, from the Actions
menu, from the pop-up
menu, or can be started by
selecting a target system and
right-clicking the task. This
is the default value.
multi A targeted task. The task can
be started by selecting a
target system and
right-clicking the task. This
is the default value.
none|multi
Tasks that are both targeted
and untargeted. The task can
be opened by selecting it in
the IBM Systems Director
Web interface navigation
pane, from the Actions
menu, from the pop-up
menu, or can be started by
selecting a target system and
right-clicking the task. This
is the default value.

Considerations for command-string parameters:

When using command strings in command-task files, there are specific


considerations that you must review.
v Testing the command strings from a command line to ensure that they run
successfully outside of the command-task file can reduce debugging efforts. It is
your responsibility to ensure that the environment is properly configured for the
desired behavior. For example, if the application requires an interactive window

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 143


or advanced command-line syntax (such as wildcard expansion), you must set
the ShellRequired parameter. For information about the ShellRequired parameter,
see “Command-task file parameters.”
v Only a single command can be specified for the CommandString value. Do not
chain any commands or use pipes or redirection. You can, however, define a
shell script or batch file on the browser system. For information about the
CommandString parameter, see “Command-task file parameters.”

Note: Only some commands will accept parameters at invocation as they are
seen by the server as two separate commands. This is a limitation of the
operating system or application.
v When the external-application task is defined on the management server (the
system running IBM Systems Director Server), the task title is displayed on all
instances of the IBM Systems Director Web interface. To start the application
successfully, the necessary applications, files, and any resources that are required
by the application must reside on the browser system from which you want to
start the task.
v For information about passing target attributes to the external application, see
“Environment variables for external-application tasks.” When using the
CMDTASK_IP_ADDRESSn and CMDTASK_MAC_ADDRESSn environment variables in a
command string, always remember to append a number at the end of the
variable name to specify which TCP/IP address or MAC address will be
returned.
v Because command-task files are Java properties files, the backslash (\) must be
represented by a double backslash, as in dir c:\\*exe /s.
v An interactive task runs on the local system (the system from which you are
activating it). To create an interactive task that runs on the management server
or browser system, you must specify both a CommandString parameter and a
CommandString.Server parameter. Use environment variables to pass system
attributes to the external application.
v A noninteractive task runs on the system on which IBM Systems Director Server
is installed. To create a noninteractive task, you must specify a
CommandString.Server parameter. Use environment variables to pass system
attributes to the external application. If the task requires that system attributes
be passed in the environment, ensure that the system attributes are named
correctly.

Note: These tasks must not invoke IBM Systems Director commands.
v A console/server synchronized task runs an interactive task and a noninteractive
task. You would create a synchronized task when an interactive task depends on
a noninteractive task running simultaneously in order to function. The
noninteractive task is started first. The interactive task is started after a
successful launch of the noninteractive task. Because both tasks are required to
provide function to a user, they are considered to be one console/server task.
To create a console/server synchronized task, specify both a
CommandString.Server parameter and a CommandString parameter. The
CommandString.Server value is launched as a noninteractive task (on the
management server) and its CommandString counterpart is launched as an
interactive task (on the browser system). Use environment variables to pass
system attributes to the external applications.
v To create a group heading to serve as a parent for group of related
external-application tasks in IBM Systems Director Web interface, create an
interactive task without a CommandString or CommandString.Server parameter.

144 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Environment variables for external-application tasks:

When an external-application task is started against a target, IBM Systems Director


passes system-property information about the selected target to the external
application by setting the values of environment variables on the browser system.

Note: You are responsible for ensuring the validity and functionality of your
environment variables.

To pass system-property values when starting an external application, the


external-application task must be targeted (that is, it must have at least one
Client.x.Resource parameter specified). The system properties that are available
depend on the target type (Client.x.Resource object). Each target type provides a
set of system properties, each of which has a key and a value. If you specify more
than one target type, the list of available system properties is the union of all
available system properties for those target types. Some system properties (such as
computer name) are available for all target types. For information about the
Client.x.Resource or System.Property parameter, see “Command-task file
parameters.”

Tip: Only specify the environment variables that are necessary to start the external
application. This is especially true if the external-application task targets multiple
resources.

You can access the value associated with a system property using the echo
command. The following table provides an example.
Table 10. Examples of using the echo command
Operating system Command example
Linux echo $CMDTASK_IPV4ADDRESS0_0
Windows echo %CMDTASK_IPV4ADDRESS0_0%

The following table lists system properties. Note that this might not be a complete
list.
Table 11. System properties
System property Environment variable name
AgentDate CMDTASK_AGENTDATE_x
AgentType CMDTASK_AGENTTYPE_x
AgentVer CMDTASK_AGENTVER_x
Architecture CMDTASK_ARCHITECTURE_x
ComputerName CMDTASK_COMPUTERNAME_x
CurrentTimeZone CMDTASK_CURRENTTIMEZONE_x
DisplayName CMDTASK_DISPLAYNAME_x
EncryptionEnabled CMDTASK_ENCRYPTIONENABLED_x
EndpointType CMDTASK_ENDPOINTTYPE_x
HasLicense CMDTASK_HASLICENSE_x
ImageSet CMDTASK_IMAGESET_x
IPHosts CMDTASK_IPHOSTv_x
IPv4Address CMDTASK_IPV4ADDRESSv_x

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 145


Table 11. System properties (continued)
System property Environment variable name
IPXaddress CMDTASK_IPXADDRESSv_x
Locked CMDTASK_LOCKED_x
LPARID CMDTASK_LPARID_x
MACAddress CMDTASK_MACADDRESSv_x
MachineTypeModel CMDTASK_MACHINETYPEMODEL_x
Manufacturer CMDTASK_MANUFACTURER_x
OperatingSystem CMDTASK_OPERATINGSYSTEM_x
OSArchType CMDTASK_OSARCHTYPE_x
OSMajVer CMDTASK_OSMAJVER_x
OSMinVer CMDTASK_OSMINVER_x
Ping CMDTASK_PING_x
Protocols CMDTASK_PROTOCOLSv_x
SecuredClient CMDTASK_SECUREDCLIENT_x
SecureSupport CMDTASK_SECURESUPPORT_x
SerialNumber CMDTASK_SERIALNUMBER_x
SSHFingerprint CMDTASK_SSHFINGERPRINT_x
SSHPort CMDTASK_SSHPORT_x
SSHVersion CMDTASK_SSHVERSION_x
Task CMDTASK_TASKv_x
URL CMDTASK_URL_x
WBEMPort CMDTASK_WBEMPORT_x

Managed-resource types for the Client.x.Resource parameter:

Managed-resource types are used to specify targets for the external application task
with the Client.x.Resource parameter. For information about this parameter, see
“Command-task file parameters.”

Valid managed-resource types include those listed in Table 12.

Note: The information provided in this table is for reference only, and might not
include third-party managed-resource types or resource types supported in future
versions of IBM Systems Director.
Table 12. IBM Systems Director resources and managed-resource types
Managed-resource type Resource
OperatingSystem com.tivoli.twg.engine.TWGNativeManagedObject
com.tivoli.twg.tier.TieredManagedObject
SystemChassis com.ibm.sysmgt.chassis.bcchassis.BCChassisManagedObject
Server com.ibm.sysmgt.platform.LogicalPlatform
com.ibm.sysmgt.platform.PhysicalPlatform
com.ibm.sysmgt.platform.Platform
com.ibm.sysmgt.spm.server.partition.Partition
Chassis com.ibm.sysmgt.spm.server.rioe.RIOEnclosure

146 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 12. IBM Systems Director resources and managed-resource types (continued)
Managed-resource type Resource
GenericNetworkDevice com.tivoli.twg.rmon.TWGRMONDevice
com.tivoli.twg.snmp.TWGSNMPDevice
Cluster com.ibm.sysmgt.spm.server.complex.Complex
Switch com.tivoli.twg.snmp.TWGSNMPDevice
PassThroughModule com.tivoli.twg.snmp.TWGSNMPDevice
Printer com.tivoli.twg.snmp.printer.SNMPPrinter
StorageSubsystem com.ibm.sysmgt.storage.StorageManagedObject

Sample command-task files:

The sample command-task files are provided to assist advanced users and vendors
who want to create command-task files.

Telnet to managed system (Telnet.CMDExt)

This example shows a command task to open a Telnet session and hold the
window open while a user types the user ID and password. With the –hold option,
you also receive an error message if the Telnet command is not performed
successfully.
# Parameters for all operating systems:
Targeted=one
ShellRequired=true

# Parameters for UNIX and Linux:


CommandString.Unix = xterm –hold –e telnet $CMDTASK_IP_ADDRESS0
# -hold gives you an error message if telnet fails

# Parameters for Windows:


CommandString.Windows = telnet %CMDTASK_IP_ADDRESS0%

Map a managed system to a Windows network drive (NetUse.CMDExt)

This example shows a command task to create a Windows network-drive


connection to the targeted system using the next available drive letter.
# Parameters for all operating systems:
Targeted=one
ShellRequired=false

# Parameters for UNIX or Linux:


CommandString.Unix =
# Empty command string specified; no action occurs

# Parameters for Windows:


CommandString.Windows = net use * \\\\%CMDTASK_COMPUTERNAME%\\c$ /u:userid pwd
# note: \\ for each \

Launch a noninteractive application (MyServerApp.CMDExt)

This example shows a command task to launch a noninteractive application on the


IBM Systems Director Server and specify both the manufacturer and the machine
type model of the target for the application.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 147


# Parameters for all operating systems:
#On Windows:
CommandString.Server.Windows = myServerApp.exe %CMDTASK_MO_MFG_0%
%CMDTASK_MO_MACHINETYPEMODEL_0%

Creating a command-task file


Command-task files are Java properties files that define external-application tasks for
IBM Systems Director. You can create a command-task file that is used to integrate
third-party management software and other programs with IBM Systems Director.

To create a command-task file, complete the following steps:


1. Create a file with the .CMDExt extension. For information about specifying file
names, see “Command-task file location and naming conventions.”
2. Open the file using a text editor. Each line that you create in this file must be
either a comment beginning with a number sign (#) or a parameter definition
in the form parameter_name=value, for example:
# This line is a comment. The following line sets a parameter for Windows:
CommandString.Windows = telnet %CMDTASK_IPV4ADDRESS0_0%

For information about the parameters that you can use, see “Command-task file
parameters.”
3. Define the task that you want to run using one of the CommandString
parameters or define a group heading. For important considerations about
specifying the command-string parameter, see “Considerations for
command-string parameters.” For information about the CommandString
parameter, see “Command-task file parameters.”
4. Optional: Define other parameters as needed.
5. Save and close the file.

Specifying national-language task titles


Command-task files can reference Java resource bundles to apply
national-language titles to the external application task. You can create and modify
External Application Launch resource bundles using an editor. It is your
responsibility to ensure the accuracy of Java resource bundles that you create.
National-language task titles are specified by using the Unicode or UTF8 character
set. Characters are typed in the code page in which the user is working.

The IBM Systems Director Web interface supports the code pages listed in the
following table.
Table 13. Code pages supported by the IBM Systems Director Web interface
Language Code page
Brazilian Portuguese 850
English 850
French 850
German 850
Italian 850
Spanish 850
Japanese UTF8
Korean UTF8
Simplified Chinese UTF8
Traditional Chinese UTF8

148 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Because the IBM Systems Director Web interface supports multiple code pages,
users cannot directly type characters in their current code page for all supported
languages. National-language titles for English, French, German, Italian, Brazilian
Portuguese, and Spanish can all be typed directly in code page 850, but to specify
characters in another code page, complete the following steps:

Important: You are responsible for ensuring that the data in the resource bundles
is valid for the intended purpose.
1. Create at least two properties files for resources (one default file and one
English file). For example, if you created a command-task file with the file
name “apple”, create two resource-bundle files named
appleResources.properties and appleResources_en.properties. For each
additional non-English title you must create additional resource bundles for
each locale that you defined. For example, if you provide French and Spanish
titles as well, you must create the appleResources_fr.properties and
appleResources_es.properties files. In the properties file, use the keyword
TitleKey to define the title, and, optionally, DescriptionKey to define a
description of the task. For example:
TitleKey=title
DescriptionKey=description

where title is the translated title of the task and description is a translated string
that describes the task. The description string is displayed in the Description
column on the External Application Launch page.
2. Using the translation services available to you, obtain translations of the title
text in all the languages that you intend to support. Translators will require
code page information if they are contracted to provide translated character
strings.

Note: If your translation service will translate the resource bundles you are
using, no subsequent steps should be necessary.
3. Copy the resource-bundle files to the applicable directory on the management
server.
Table 14. Location of resource-bundle files by operating system
Windows \Program Files\IBM\Director\classes\CmdTask\resources
installation
Linux /opt/IBM/director/classes/CmdTask/resources
installation

where resources represents the directory that contains resource files for a specific
external-application task.

Configuring external-application tasks for browser systems


External-application tasks are initially created only on the management server.
Additional preparation is required to start external-application tasks on your
browser system (the system running the IBM Systems Director Web interface)
when the browser system is not the management server.

The following prerequisites apply to this procedure:


v One or more external-application tasks must be created on the management
server.
v The external-application task must be tested to make sure that it starts
successfully on the management server.
Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 149
To configure the browser system to start an external-application task, complete the
following steps:
v Make sure that the application to be started by the external-application task, as
well as any resources required by the application, is present on the browser
system. If necessary, install the application on the browser system.
v Make sure the path and file name for the application that is installed on the
browser system is the same as the path and file name on the management
server, as specified in the .CMDExt file associated with the external-application
task.
v Make sure that Java Web Start is installed on the browser system.

Note: This task requires the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program.
This program is installed automatically the first time you use a task that requires
it. For information about the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program, see
“Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program.”

Refreshing external-application tasks in the IBM Systems


Director Web interface
In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can refresh the list of available
external-application launch tasks that you can use.

To refresh the list of external-application tasks, complete the following steps:


1. Restart the IBM Systems Director Server to pick up new command definitions.
2. Log back in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.
3. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Task
Management and click External Application Launch.
4. On the External Application Launch page, click Refresh. The list of available
external applications is refreshed.

Starting external-application tasks in the IBM Systems Director


Web interface
After you integrate an external-application task and it is displayed in the IBM
Systems Director Web interface, you can start the task in the same ways as any
other IBM Systems Director task.

Important:
v When the external-application task is defined on the management server (the
system running IBM Systems Director Server), the task title is displayed on all
instances of the IBM Systems Director Web interface. To start the application
successfully, the necessary applications, files, and any resources that are required
by the application must reside on the browser system from which you want to
start the task.
v When you start an external-application task, the resulting application runs
according to the settings that are present on the system where the application is
started. You can change settings by defining system attributes within the
command-task file. For information about the System.Attribute parameter, see
“Command-task file parameters.”
v You can restrict the use of the external-application task to specific users. For
more information, see “Authorizing users to IBM Systems Director.”

To start an external-application task, use one of the following methods. Depending


on the task type, some methods might not be available.
v Right-click a resource and select the task.

150 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Select the task from the Actions menu.
v Select the task in the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation pane.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Task
Management and click External Application Launch. Then, select and start an
application from the External Application Launch page.

Deleting an external-application task


You can delete an external-application task that is displayed in IBM Systems
Director Web interface.

Attention: The command-task file for the selected external-application task is


permanently deleted on the management server.

To delete an external-application task, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Task
Management and click External Application Launch.
2. On the External Application Launch page, select one or more tasks that you
want to delete.
3. Click Delete. The selected command-task files are deleted on the management
server. They are permanently deleted.

Using Advanced External Application Launch


Use Advanced External Application Launch to integrate Web-based third-party
management software and other Web-based programs into the IBM Systems
Director Web interface.

Before you can launch an external Web-based application from IBM Systems
Director, you must register the external application using a template file. Once
registered, the external application launch points will be visible as either targeted
or untargeted tasks within IBM Systems Director, depending on the launch point
definitions. The vendor instructions, as well as the template file, should provide
more information about the names of the tasks as they will be displayed in IBM
Systems Director.

To integrate an external Web-based application into IBM Systems Director,


complete the following steps.
1. Obtain the external application launch point template file from the vendor
providing the Web-based application.
2. Review the comments section of the template file and follow the vendor
instructions for customizing any information in the template file prior to
registration.
3. Run the following command: importextlps -f <filename>, where <filename> is
the fully qualified path and filename of the template file. If the template file
contains custom tags, use the -c option and specify the appropriate substitution
values.
4. Optional: Run the following command: listextlps -A <applicationID>, to verify
the external application launch points registered successfully (where
<applicationID> is the application ID from the template file).

To remove an external Web-based application registered with IBM Systems


Director, complete the following steps:
1. Run the following command: removeextlps -A <applicationID>, where
<applicationID> is the application ID from the template file.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 151


2. Optional: Run the following command: listextlps -A <applicationID>, to verify
the external application launch points unregistered successfully (where
<applicationID> is the application ID from the template file).
Related reference
importextlps command
listextlps command

Scheduling tasks
You can use Scheduler (also called the Run window) to schedule noninteractive
tasks to be run at an exact date and time. You can define a schedule to repeat a
task automatically at a given interval, such as every Saturday at 2:00 a.m. You can
define a specific number of repeats, such as every Saturday at 2:00 a.m. for the
next 6 weeks. Scheduler also provides automatic notification for job status and task
completion.
Related concepts

eLearning: Scheduling tasks


Related reference
Tasks and scheduled jobs commands

Noninteractive tasks
Noninteractive tasks, such as inventory collection or system identification, do not
depend on immediate user input and can be scheduled to occur on multiple
systems at any time. Interactive tasks, such as remote control and file transfer,
cannot be scheduled because they directly interact with only one client at a time.

Jobs and job instances


A scheduled task is called a job.

A job has the following characteristics:


v Noninteractive tasks that are to be run
v Specified dates and times the tasks are to be run
v Target systems on which the scheduled tasks are run
v A history that provides summary details about the job run
v A log that provides step-by-step details about the job run
You also can create jobs without assigning a schedule and manually run the job at
any time.

Because you can run a job more than once, there is a record called a job instance
that represents each execution of the job. For example, you might have a job that is
scheduled for every day at noon. You could view the results for a specific
execution of the job, such as the Tuesday run as opposed to the Monday run, by
viewing the job instance record.

Scheduling a task
When you create a job, you can schedule one or more noninteractive tasks to run
on one or more target systems.

To schedule a task, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Find a Task.

152 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. On the Find a Task page, right-click a noninteractive task that you want to
schedule and click Run.
If the task is an interactive task, you cannot schedule it and the Run window is
not displayed. For more information, see “Noninteractive tasks.”
3. The Run window opens and the Target page is displayed. Select one or more
systems or groups of systems on which you want to schedule the task to run.

Note: If you select a dynamic group, be aware that the group members used
for the scheduled task are those members present in the group when you create
this scheduled job. Subsequent changes in dynamic group membership are
ignored. For example, if you schedule to collect inventory using a dynamic
group and the group membership changes, the target systems originally part of
the group are used for the inventory collection. The changed group
membership is ignored.

Important:

Although you can select multiple target systems when you create, edit, or copy
the job, the Scheduler does not evaluate the following criteria until the task is
actually run:
v Whether the target systems support the task that you are scheduling
v Whether the task is appropriate for multiple systems
If the scheduled job fails any of these criteria, an error is logged in the job
instance record. Each job instance record provides detailed status information
on the History page and a log file that you can view from the Log page. For
more information, see “Viewing job-instance records” and “Viewing
job-instance logs.”
4. Click the Schedule tab. On this page, you can choose to run the job
immediately or schedule the job to run at a later time.
a. A job name is required and the Name field provides a unique default name.
To change the default name, type a job name in the field.
b. To run the job immediately, click Run Now and go to step 7 on page 154.
Otherwise, click Schedule.
c. In the Schedule list, select how frequently you want the job to run. The
default setting is Once. Other values are Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly,
Yearly, or Custom. Also, you can specify whether to run the job on the
weekend.
d. Select the date and time to run the job for the first time.
e. Select the time range for the job to repeat.
5. Rarely, a task might require setting additional parameters and the Parameters
page is provided. Click the Parameters tab. If the task provides default values,
they are displayed on this page. If the settings are blank, you must enter all the
settings; otherwise, the Scheduler cannot save the job.
6. Click the Notification tab. On this page you can customize a notification that is
sent by e-mail.
a. Select from the available criteria to customize when the e-mail notification is
sent. You can specify that the e-mail be sent when one of the following
criteria is met:
v When the job begins.
v When the job completes successfully.
v When the job fails. You can further customize this criterion by setting
either the percentage of target systems on which the job had errors or the
number of systems on which the job had errors. Therefore, if the job runs

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 153


on five systems, the job has errors on two systems, and you set the
criterion threshold to 50%, the notification is not sent.
v When the job receives any error.
b. Type your e-mail address, e-mail server, and e-mail server port.

Tip: You can provide only one e-mail address.


7. Click the Options tab. On this page you can select additional options for the
job behavior.
a. Select whether you want the job to run according to your management
server's time or the target system's time.

Tip: Make sure that you know the time and time zone to which the
respective systems' clocks are set.
b. Select whether you want the job to fail if a system is offline or if you want
the job to run when the system is online again.
8. Click OK to save the job.
Click Cancel to exit from the Run window without saving the job.
If the job is created successfully, a message is displayed on the page from
which you started the Scheduler. If the job creation fails, a message is displayed
in the Run window so that you can correct the job.

The job is displayed on the Active and Scheduled Jobs page.

Scheduling a task from a selected system


When viewing systems, you can select a noninteractive task and schedule it to run
on one or more systems.

To schedule a task from a selected system, complete the following steps:


1. In Navigate Resources or any table that displays systems, select one or more
systems on which you want to perform a noninteractive task.
2. Click Actions and click a noninteractive task that you want to schedule. The
Run window is not displayed if one of the following conditions is true:
v One or more of the selected systems does not support the selected task.
v The task is an interactive task. You cannot schedule an interactive task and
the Run window is not displayed. For more information, see “Noninteractive
tasks.”
3. The Run window opens and the Schedule page is displayed. On this page, you
can choose to run the job immediately or schedule the job to run at a later time.
a. A job name is required and the Name field provides a unique default name.
To change the default name, type a job name in the field.
b. To run the job immediately, click Run Now and go to step 7. Otherwise,
click Schedule.
c. In the Schedule list, select how frequently you want the job to run. The
default setting is Once. Other values are Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly,
Yearly, or Custom. Also, you can specify whether to run the job on the
weekend.
d. Select the date and time to run the job for the first time.
e. Select the time range for the job to repeat.
4. Rarely, a task might require setting additional parameters and the Parameters
page is provided. Click the Parameters tab. If the task provides default values,

154 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


they are displayed on this page. If the settings are blank, you must enter all the
settings; otherwise, the Scheduler cannot save the job.
5. Click the Notification tab. On this page you can customize a notification that is
sent by e-mail.
a. Select from the available criteria to customize when the e-mail notification is
sent. You can specify that the e-mail be sent when one of the following
criteria is met:
v When the job begins.
v When the job completes successfully.
v When the job fails. You can further customize this criterion by setting
either the percentage of target systems on which the job had errors or the
number of systems on which the job had errors. Therefore, if the job runs
on five systems, the job has errors on two systems, and you set the
criterion threshold to 50%, the notification is not sent.
v When the job receives any error.
b. Type your e-mail address, e-mail server, and e-mail server port.

Tip: You can provide only one e-mail address.


6. Click the Options tab. On this page you can select additional options for the
job behavior.
a. Select whether you want the job to run according to your management
server's time or the target system's time.

Tip: Make sure that you know the time and time zone to which the
respective systems' clocks are set.
b. Select whether you want the job to fail if a system is offline or if you want
the job to run when the system is online again.
7. Click OK to save the job.
Click Cancel to exit from the Run window without saving the job.
If the job is created successfully, a message is displayed on the page from
which you started the Scheduler. If the job creation fails, a message is displayed
in the Run window so that you can correct the job.

The job is displayed on the Active and Scheduled Jobs page.

Viewing active and scheduled job information


You can view quick, high-level information about active and scheduled jobs,
including a progress indicator for each job. The progress indicator is useful for
tracking the progress of instances of long-running jobs.

To view information about active and scheduled jobs, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, scan for the job that you want. For
each job, the following information provided:
Name The name of the job.
Status The current status of the job. The following list describes the available
job states:
Active Indicates that the job has run once and is scheduled to run
again.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 155


Scheduled
Indicates future scheduled runs of the job and the number of
systems affected by the job. This is a job's initial state.
Inactive
Indicates that the job has been disabled and scheduled
instances will not be run. Use this state to prevent a job from
running without deleting the job. Neither the job nor its history
is deleted.
Running
Indicates that the job is currently running and the number of
affected systems. This state can be transitory and, therefore, not
observable for some jobs. If a job is running, you cannot change
its state to Inactive.
Complete
Indicates that no future runs of the job are scheduled, that the
job has run at least once, and the number of affected systems.
Progress
If a job is in the Running state, a progress indicator is displayed in the
column.
Description
A description of when the job is scheduled to run.
Next Run
The date when the job will run next.
Last Run
The date when the job ran most recently.
Task The name of the task that the job runs.
Created By
The user ID of the person that created the job.
Related reference
lsjob command

Viewing information about scheduled jobs


You can view information (properties) about any job. This information includes
what tasks are included in each job and, if a job has a repeating schedule, when
the job has run before and when it will run next.

To view job information, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to view
and click Actions > Properties.
3. On the Properties page, the General page is displayed by default. On this page
you can view the following general information about the job:
v The name of the job that was originally given by the user who created the
job.
v The current status of the job.
v A progress indicator that reports the progress of the job if it is running when
you view the job properties.
v The description of when the job run and repeats.
v The date that the job last ran.
v The date that the job will run next.

156 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v The name of the task that the job runs.
v The name of the job's creator.
4. If you are finished viewing this information, you can return to previous views
using the breadcrumb links at the top of the Properties page.

Also on the Properties page, you can perform applicable tasks on the selected job.
Click Actions to view the available tasks that you can perform.
Related reference
lsjob command

Determining target systems that are affected by a job


You can view a list of the target systems that are affected by a selected scheduled
job.

To view the target systems, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to view
and click Actions > Properties.
3. On the Properties page, click the Target tab. On this page you can view the list
of target systems on which the job will run.
4. If you are finished viewing this information, you can return to previous views
using the breadcrumb links at the top of the Properties page.

Tip: You also can find this information by selecting a system and viewing its
Properties. On the Properties page, click the Applied Activities page to view
information about any jobs that are associated with the system.

Also on the Properties page, you can perform applicable tasks on the selected job.
Click Actions to view the available tasks that you can perform.

Viewing job-instance records


You can view a record for each instance of a scheduled job that has already run,
including detailed information about the status of a particular instance.

To view job-instance records, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to view
and click Actions > Properties.
3. On the Properties page, click the History tab. On this page you can view the
history of previous times that this job has run. A record is created for each
instance of the job as soon as it starts running. This page provides the
following historical information in each record:
Date Provides the date and time for the record
Status Indicates whether the job instance has completed.
Scheduled
Indicates future scheduled runs of the job and the number of systems
affected by the job. This is a job's initial state.
Inactive
Indicates that the job has been disabled and scheduled instances will

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 157


not be run. Use this state to prevent a job from running without
deleting the job. Neither the job nor its history is deleted.
Running
Indicates that the job is currently running and the number of affected
systems. This state can be transitory and, therefore, not observable for
some jobs. If a job is running, you cannot change its state to Inactive.
Complete
Indicates that no future runs of the job are scheduled, that the job has
run at least once, and the number of affected systems.
Failed Indicates that a job instance failed on the specified number or
percentage of systems, and the number of affected systems.
Unavailable
Indicates that a job instance did not run because a target system was
offline and the number of affected systems.
Skipped
Indicates that a job instance did not run because a target system was
offline and the number of affected systems.
4. If you are finished viewing this information, you can return to previous views
using the breadcrumb links at the top of the Properties page.

Also on the Properties page, you can perform applicable tasks on the selected job.
Click Actions to view the available tasks that you can perform.
Related reference
lsjobhistory command
rmjobhistory command

Viewing job-instance logs


You can view logs for each job instance that has already run. These logs can
include error messages that you can use to determine why a job instance failed.

To view job-instance logs, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to view
and click Actions > Properties.
3. On the Properties page, click the Logs tab. On this page you can view a log for
each record. For each job instance record, the page displays the date and time,
as well as one of the following status:
Running
Indicates that the job instance is currently running. This state might be
transitory and, therefore, not observable for some job instances.
Running with errors
Indicates that the job instance is currently running, but with errors.
This state might be transitory and, therefore, not observable for some
job instances.
Waiting
Indicates that the job instance is waiting for a resource to become
available.
Waiting with errors
Indicates that the job instance is waiting for a resource to become
available, but has already logged some errors.
Complete
Indicates that the job instance has successfully finished its execution.

158 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Complete with errors
Indicates that the job instance has finished its execution, but with
errors.
4. Right-click a record and click Show logs. The log is displayed below the table.
If the record state indicates errors, view the log for error messages that can help
you troubleshoot the problem.
5. If you are finished viewing this information, you can return to previous views
using the breadcrumb links at the top of the Properties page.

Also on the Properties page, you can perform applicable tasks on the selected job.
Click Actions to view the available tasks that you can perform.
Related reference
lsjobhistory command

Copying a scheduled job


Copy a job when you want to create a new scheduled job that is similar to a
existing job.

To copy a scheduled job, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to copy.
3. Click Create Like. The Create Like window is displayed with the settings of the
job that you copied.
4. Type a new job name for this job.
5. Navigate through the Create Like window and edit the applicable job settings.
6. When you are satisfied with your edits, click OK.

The new job is saved and is displayed on the Active and Scheduled Jobs page.

Editing a scheduled job


Edit a job to change its settings. You can edit only jobs that have not run. If a job
has run once or more, you cannot edit it.

Attention: To avoid a potential error, check to make sure that the job that you
want to edit is not scheduled to run during the time that you want to edit it. Check
the Next Run column to make sure the job will not run during the time you intend
to edit it.

To edit a scheduled job, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to edit.
3. Click Edit. The Edit window is displayed with the job settings of the job that
you want to edit.
4. Navigate through the Edit window and edit the applicable job settings. For
detailed information, see “Scheduling a task.”
5. When you are satisfied with your edits, click OK.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 159


Note: If the job was executed while you were editing it, the edited job is not
saved. If this occurs, an error message is displayed stating that the job has run
already and cannot be replaced.

The edited job is saved and is displayed on the Active and Scheduled Jobs page.

Running a scheduled job immediately


You can run a job immediately. This action does not affect any scheduled instances
of the job.

To run a scheduled job immediately, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to run.
3. Click Run Now. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page in the Status column,
the state is changed to Running. This state can be transitory and, therefore, not
observable for some jobs. The state might appear to change to Complete
without changing to Running first. The Last Run column is updated also.
Related reference
runjob command

Suspending and resuming a scheduled job


You can stop a job from running any of its scheduled instances without deleting
the job. Neither the job nor its history is deleted. Then, you can resume the
running of the job. While the job will run its future scheduled instances, it will not
run any past instances that were missed during its suspension.

Note: You cannot suspend most job instances that are currently running.
Right-clicking on the job will show if the job supports suspending currently
running jobs or not. If you suspend the job, the suspension will affect only the job
instances that have yet to run.

To suspend and resume a scheduled job, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, right-click on the job that you want to
suspend or resume.
3. Click Suspend. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page in the Status column,
the state is changed to Inactive.
4. When you want to resume the job, select the job and click Resume. The job is
resumed. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page in the Status column, the
state is changed from Inactive to Scheduled. A message is displayed on the
page stating that the job was resumed successfully.
Related reference
runjob command

Canceling a running job


You can cancel a currently running job using the Cancel Running Job Instance task.

Restriction: The Cancel Running Job Instance task only applies to jobs that
support cancellation, such as Discovery.

160 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To cancel a currently running job, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select the job that you want to cancel.

Note: The Last Run Status column will display Running for currently running
jobs.
3. Click Cancel Running Job Instance. A confirmation window opens.
4. Click OK to confirm cancelation of the job. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs
page, in the Last Run Status column, the state is changed to Complete.

Deleting a job
Delete a existing job when you no longer need it.

To delete a job, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Task Management and
click Active and Scheduled Jobs.
2. On the Active and Scheduled Jobs page, select one or more jobs that you want
to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. In the confirmation window, click OK.

The job is deleted and is no longer displayed on the Active and Scheduled Jobs
page.
Related reference
rmjob command

Managing auditing
Audit infrastructure plays a pivotal role in helping organizations adhere to
compliance standards. IT administrators prepare for compliance audits by using
event log managers and robust change management software to allow tracking and
documenting authentication and controls in IT systems. With IBM Systems
Director's auditing capabilities, you can track what takes place on an IBM Systems
Director Server by viewing four categories of audit data : Security, Task, System
Configuration, and System Triggers. In addition, IBM Systems Director plug-ins
can use these existing categories or define new categories to audit their important
events. Use IBM Systems Director Server Auditing to enable and disable auditing
on IBM Systems Director Server, select which audit records to log (by choosing
which categories to enable), view and change the current audit settings, view audit
log events, and delete audit log events.

Tip: For your awareness, auditing can be managed using the following smcli
commands:
chaudit
Use the chaudit command to modify audit settings.
lsaudit
Use the lsaudit command to list audit settings and categories.
lsauditlogs
Use the lsauditlogs command to list a specific number of audit log
messages for one or more audit categories.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 161


rmauditlogs
Use the rmauditlogs command to remove the audit log for one or more
audit categories.
Related reference

IBM Systems Director commands

Audit records
The audit records provide information that is necessary to track basic, important,
high-level actions. You can select from several categories of information to audit,
including security, task, system configuration and system triggers.

IBM Systems Director provides several categories of audit records.

Security audit records


This category enables auditing for security-related events in IBM Systems Director,
such as user authentication, authorization, access privileges, and user
administration.

Security audit records include the following data:


v Encryption turned on
v Encryption turned off
v Successful request access
v Unsuccessful request access
v Successful revoke access
v Unsuccessful revoke access
v User administration settings changed
v Successful login
v Successful logout
v Unsuccessful login
v Create role
v Remove role
v Add role to user
v Remove role from user
v Add permission to role
v Remove permission from role
v Modify user
v Modify group
v Create credential
v Modify credential
v Remove credential
v Create mapping
v Modify mapping
v Remove mapping

The following output is an example of security audit-log information:


Role "SMMonitor" successfully added to user "Diruser"

Task audit records


When this category is selected, audit records are logged when IBM Systems
Director tasks start or end.

The task audit records include the following data:


v Task activated
v Task deactivated

162 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Task scheduled
v CLI command successful
v CLI command not executed
v CLI command failed
v Create resource group
v Modify resource group
v Remove resource group
v Import resource group
v Export resource group
v Modify endpoint
v Remove endpoint
v Import Management Information Base
v Load Management Information Base
v Unload Management Information Base
v Schedule job
v Cancel job
v Delete job

The following output is an example of task audit-log information:


IBM Systems Director CLI command "lsbundle" succeeded
Related reference

Determining IBM Systems Director task support

IBM Systems Director commands

System Configuration audit records


This category captures all actions or events that a systems administrator performs
to configure the systems, such as deployment, install, and configuration actions on
server, storage, and network.

Audit records are displayed in this category when an IBM Systems Director
plug-in is installed.

The system configuration audit records include the following data:


v Enable auditing globally
v Disable auditing globally
v Enable audit category
v Disable audit category
v Delete audit logs
v Restore audit configuration
v Modify event log preferences
v Edit auto rename template
v Modify auto rename settings
v Modify server preferences

The following output is an example of system configuration audit-log information:


Auditing setting restored to default value

System Triggers audit records


This category captures the events that are automatically generated by the system to
indicate triggers such as status change, failure, or scheduling.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 163


Audit records are displayed in this category when an IBM Systems Director
plug-in is installed.

The system triggers audit records include the following data:


v Job executed

The following output is an example of system triggers audit-log information:


Job "Collect Inventory" is running on "rev4.in.ibm.com"

Setting server-auditing preferences


You can customize your preferences for logging IBM Systems Director Server audit
information. These preferences include whether auditing is turned on and what
types of audit records to log. The audit records provide information that is
necessary to track basic, important, high-level actions. You can select from several
categories of information to audit, including security, task, system configuration
and system triggers.

Note: Server auditing is enabled by default for the Security category.

To set the server auditing preferences for IBM Systems Director Server, complete
the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Server Auditing.
2. On the Server Auditing page, if you want to disable auditing, clear the Enable
Auditing check box.
3. Select the categories of information that you want to audit. Use the Add and
Remove buttons to move items between the Available list and the Selected list.
You can select from the following auditing categories.
Security
This category enables auditing for security-related events in IBM
Systems Director, such as user authentication, authorization, access
privileges, and user administration.
Task When this category is selected, audit records are logged when IBM
Systems Director tasks start or end.
System configuration
This category captures all actions or events that a systems administrator
performs to configure the systems, such as deployment, install, and
configuration actions on server, storage, and network.
System triggers
This category captures the events that are automatically generated by
the system to indicate triggers such as status change, failure, or
scheduling.
4. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the
system-defined values, click Restore Defaults. You still must click OK or
Apply to save the restored settings.

For information about viewing audit logs, see “Viewing the audit log.”

164 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Viewing the audit log
If you have enabled auditing for IBM Systems Director Server, you can view the
audit log.

Note: The audit log is in event format and can be viewed on the Event Log page.

To view the audit log when auditing is enabled, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Server Auditing.
2. On the Server Auditing page, click View Audit Log. It will navigate to the
Event Log page.

Deleting the audit log


Use Server Auditing to delete the audit logs.

Attention: Deleting the audit log is a task that cannot be undone.

To delete the audit log, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Server Auditing.
2. On the Server Auditing page, click Delete All Logs to delete all logged audit
events.
3. A confirmation window is displayed. Click Delete to confirm deleting all
logged audit events.

Encrypting interprocess communication


Encryption is enabled for interprocess communication by default using the
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). You can change the encryption algorithm,
disable and enable encryption, and manage encryption keys. This encryption
feature implementation is available only for IBM Director, versions 5.20.3 and
earlier.

Encryption
IBM Systems Director contains a security feature that encrypts all data in
interprocess communications, except transport-layer datagrams used during
discovery. This encryption feature implementation is available only for IBM
Director, versions 5.20.3 and earlier.

This encryption feature provides automatic key management. You can select an
encryption algorithm from the provided libraries:
v IBM Java Cryptography Extension (JCE)
v OpenSSL

JCE provides ciphers for all Java-based platforms, including IBM i and Linux;
OpenSSL provides ciphers for 32-bit Windows operating systems.

Encryption is disabled by default. To encrypt data transmitted between IBM


Director Agent version 5.20, managed systems and IBM Systems Director Server,
you must enable encryption on both IBM Systems Director Server and IBM
Director Agent version 5.20, managed systems.

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 165


When you install IBM Systems Director Server, you can select one of the following
encryption algorithms:
v Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
v Data Encryption Standard (DES)
v Triple DES
IBM Systems Director Server automatically generates a key, based on the
encryption algorithm selected. IBM Systems Director Server stores the key in
memory and presents it to IBM Systems Director Server or IBM Director Agent
version 5.20, each time that IBM Systems Director Server or IBM Director Agent
version 5.20, is started, using the Diffie-Hellman key exchange. It is not necessary
for a key to be stored on each managed system.

The following table outlines how data is transmitted between IBM Systems
Director Server and IBM Director Agent version 5.20, managed systems, depending
on whether encryption is enabled.
Table 15. Encryption state and data transmitted between IBM Systems Director Server
andIBM Director Agent version 5.20
IBM Director Agent version IBM Director Agent version
5.20 (encryption enabled) 5.20 (encryption disabled)
IBM Systems Director Encrypted Unencrypted
Server (encryption enabled)
IBM Systems Director No data transmission Unencrypted
Server (encryption disabled) possible

If you have more than one management server in your environment, make sure
you consider the following situation:
v Two management servers have discovered each other and each are displayed in
the other's IBM Systems Director Web interface as systems.
v One management server (server A) has encryption enabled.
v The other management server (server B) either has encryption disabled or has
encryption enabled now but had it disabled when it was discovered and the
communication has not ended since the discovery.

In this situation, unencrypted transmissions sent by server B to server A will


continue until the previous communication is ended. This occurs because server A
(in its role as a management server) is already communicating with server B (in its
role as system) in plain text.

You can delete each system from the Web interface of the other to end the
unencrypted communication. If you run multiple management servers that can
discover each other, you can enable encryption on both management servers before
they are started or before they can discover each other. You can also use the dircli
lsmo command to check for previous communication. For more information, see
“System commands.”

Notes:
v Encryption is not supported on systems running NetWare or systems running
64-bit versions of Windows.
v Neither out-of-band communications nor communication used by Internet tools,
such as Telnet or File Transfer Protocol (FTP), are encrypted.
v There is a performance penalty when you enable encryption. Encrypting data
packets and exchanging encryption keys has an effect on the speed with which

166 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


IBM Systems Director completes management operations. When either the
management server or the systems are restarted, keys are regenerated and
exchanged. Consequently, an unsecured managed system might seem to be
unmanageable for a period of time.
Related reference

System commands

Enabling encryption
You can enable encryption on the management server. This encryption feature
implementation is available only for IBM Director, versions 5.20.3 and earlier.

To enable encryption on IBM Director Agent, versions 5.20.3 and earlier, complete
the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Encryption Preferences.
2. On the Encryption Preferences page, select the Enable encryption of data check
box.
3. Click Apply.
4. The Save Encryption Settings window opens. Click OK to confirm enabling the
encryption algorithm and synchronizing the keys. The keys are sent to all
affected systems. A confirmation message is displayed.
5. Click OK to save the change and close the page.

Disabling encryption
You can disable encryption on the management server. Encryption must be enabled
previously. This encryption feature implementation is available only for IBM
Director, versions 5.20.3 and earlier.

To disable encryption on IBM Director Agent, versions 5.20.3 and earlier, complete
the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Encryption Preferences.
2. On the Encryption Preferences page, clear the Enable encryption of data check
box.
3. Click Apply to save the change.
4. The Save Encryption Settings window opens. Click OK to confirm disabling the
encryption algorithm.
5. A confirmation message is displayed. Click OK to save the change and close
the page.

Changing the encryption algorithm


You can change the algorithm used to encrypt communications between IBM
Director Server, versions 5.20.3 and earlier, and IBM Director Agent, versions 5.20.3
and earlier. When you change the algorithm, new encryption keys are sent to all
systems running IBM Director Agent, versions 5.20.3 and earlier. Encryption must
be enabled previously. This encryption feature implementation is available only for
IBM Director, versions 5.20.3 and earlier.

To change the encryption algorithm for systems running IBM Director Agent,
versions 5.20.3 and earlier, complete the following steps:

Chapter 2. Using the Web interface 167


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Encryption Preferences.
2. In the Select data encryption standard list, select the encryption algorithm that
you want to use.
3. Click Apply.
4. The Save Encryption Settings window opens. Click OK to confirm changing the
encryption algorithm and synchronizing the keys. The keys are sent to all
affected systems. A confirmation message is displayed.
5. Click OK to save the change and close the page.

Resending the encryption key to systems


You can resend the existing encryption keys to systems running IBM Director
Agent. This encryption feature implementation is available only for IBM Director,
versions 5.20.3 and earlier.

To resend encryption keys to all systems running IBM Director Agent, versions
5.20.3 and earlier, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and click Encryption Preferences.
2. On the Encryption Preferences page, click Resend Keys.
3. In the Resend Encryption Keys window, click Resend to resend the keys. When
the operation is completed, the confirmation message is displayed.
4. To close the page, click OK.

Creating a new encryption key


You can generate a unique encryption key for a system running IBM Director
Agent. This encryption feature implementation is available only for IBM Director,
versions 5.20.3 and earlier.

Encryption must be enabled.

To set a new encryption key for one system running IBM Director Agent, versions
5.20.3 and earlier, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. On the Navigate Resources page, navigate to the managed system for which
you want to reset the encryption key.
3. Right-click the system and click Encryption Key Reset.

Note: You can select more than one system to reset encryption keys.
4. In the Encryption Key Reset window, click Reset to reset the key.

IBM Systems Director Server generates a new, unique key for the managed system
and displays a confirmation message.

168 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data
To manage a resource within an environment or view inventory data about it, that
resource must first be discovered and, after access is granted, an inventory must be
collected. The resource is recognized and added to the comprehensive list of native
resources and native attributes for the system. Discovery and inventory collection
are the two primary tasks that are used to connect to supported network resources
and collect information about them.

Discovery
Discovery is the process by which IBM Systems Director Server identifies and
establishes connections with network-level resources that IBM Systems Director can
manage, such as computers, switches, or printers. You can use getting started
(initial) discovery or system discovery to identify resources within your
environment, collect data about those resources, and establish connections with
them.

Before you can use IBM Systems Director to manage a device, that resource must
be discovered by IBM Systems Director Server. After a resource has been
discovered, it becomes a system that IBM Systems Director can manage.

Note: The discovery process discovers only systems and other types of resources
that can be managed by IBM Systems Director. In other words, just because you
can "ping" a resource does not mean that IBM Systems Director can discover it.

After a system has been discovered, it is displayed on the Navigate Resources


page. You can drill down in the groups of systems within IBM Systems Director to
manage and view information about the systems that have been discovered.

You can view discovery and inventory information and perform discovery and
inventory tasks on the Start tab of the Welcome page or by using the Discovery
Manager plug-in.

Getting started discovery


Getting started discovery (also called initial discovery) is available on the Start tab
of the Welcome page. Generally, one of the first actions you take after installing
IBM Systems Director is to run getting started discovery, which discovers a range
of manageable resources on your local subnet.

Click Discover on the Start tab of the Welcome page to perform getting started
discovery. Clicking the Discover button also removes the button from the page.

Note: The Discover button remains visible until you discover resources besides the
local operating system and server.
If the Discover button is not visible or if you already ran a getting started
discovery, you can run a getting started discovery by using the Default getting
started discovery profile. Getting started discovery discovers the following types of
managed resources on the local subnet:
v IBM Systems Director Common Agent, version 6.1 or later, managed systems1
v IBM Systems Director Platform Agent, version 6.1 or later, managed systems1
v IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and 5.20, managed systems2, 3

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 169


v IBM Director Core Services, versions 5.10 and 5.20, managed systems2, 3
v Any existing infrastructure being managed with Tivoli Common Agent Services
v Agentless-managed systems enabled for Simple Network Management Protocol
(SNMP)
v Agentless-managed systems running AIX or Linux4
v Agentless-managed systems running Windows4
v Operating systems enabled for SNMP
1. Common Agent version 6.2 and Platform Agent version 6.2 include support
for IPv6. Previous versions of these agents do not support IPv6 addresses.
2. Discovery of IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and 5.20, and IBM Director
Core Services, versions 5.10 and 5.20, is provided only as a step toward
upgrading the discovered agents to a more recent version. IBM Systems
Director version 6.2 does not support managing IBM Director Agent, version
5.10 or IBM Director Core Services, version 5.10. For more information, see
“Version compatibility of IBM Systems Director components.”
3. IPv6 is not supported for IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and 5.20 or IBM
Director Core Services, versions 5.10 and 5.20.
4. For more information about preparing or configuring agentless-managed
system so that IBM Systems Director can discover and manage them, see
“Preparing agentless managed systems.”
Getting started discovery attempts to discover systems by using all agent-related
discovery protocols on the local subnet. This inefficiency might cause the
management server to time out on one or more discovery requests, resulting in a
small percentage of discoverable resources remaining undiscovered.

The getting started discovery process updates the pie chart on the Start tab of the
Welcome page to indicate the number of system types discovered. A similar pie
chart appears on the Discovery Manager summary page. You can view all the
discovered systems on the Navigate Resources page.

Note: The time it takes for discovery to finish processing varies depending on
such factors as network performance and the number of systems that are
discovered. Avoid managing newly discovered resources for a time after the
discovery task finishes, because associated processing continues to run.

Getting started discovery does not discover every type of managed resource. For
more information about how to discover other types of managed resources, see
“System discovery.”

System discovery
System discovery in version 6.2 enables you to discover a resource for a single
IPv4 or IPv6 address or host name or many resources of the same type that occur
in a densely populated single range of IP addresses. You can also use a discovery
profile to discover more specific categories of resource types, specify multiple
ranges of IP addresses, or automatically request access to or collect inventory for
discovered resources.

System discovery provides the following functions:


v Discovery based on a single IPv4 or IPv6 address
v Discovery based on a single host name
v Discovery based on one range of IPv4 or IPv6 addresses
v Discovery based on a discovery profile

Using discovery based on a single IP address or host name or a range of IP


addresses is useful when the following conditions apply:

170 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v You are managing a single subnet (or only a few subnets) and you want to
manage all resources that are on the subnet or all resources of a given type.
v The subnet is a densely populated single range of IP addresses for a single
resource type that you want to discover at one time.

Using discovery based on a discovery profile is useful when the following


conditions apply:
v Your resources span many subnets.
v A specific type of resource occurs in multiple IP address ranges.
v You want to automatically request access to or collect inventory for the
discovered resources.
v You need to discover various types of resources by using targeted discovery
profiles.

System discovery is able to detect the same kinds of resources as getting started
discovery, but also is able to discover the following types of resources:
v BladeCenter chassis by way of a management module or an advanced
management module
v eServer™ 325, 326, and 326m model servers discovered by way of an ISMP
service processor1
v IBM Power servers with service processors
v IBM Power systems being managed by Hardware Management Console (HMC)
v IBM Power systems being managed by Integrated Virtualization Manage (IVM)
v System x servers with service processors
v System x servers discovered by way of an integrated management module or by
way of an IPMI baseboard management controller (BMC)
v System x server discovered by way of a Remote Supervisor Adapter or Remote
Supervisor Adapter II
v System z servers being managed by (HMC)
v Systems that are cloned or that use a mirrored image2
v Printers, switches, and bridges enabled for SNMP3
v Storage devices
1. Although the service processor in the eServer 325, 326, and 326m models is
called an ISMP, it is a BMC.
2. To discover a system that uses a mirrored image, the system must be
properly configured. For more information, see “Discovering systems that
use a mirrored image.”
3. Pass-through modules do not provide SNMP support.

The discovery process discovers only systems and other types of resources that can
be managed by IBM Systems Director. In other words, just because you can "ping"
a resource does not mean that IBM Systems Director can discover it.

Discover only those resources that you intend to manage with IBM Systems
Director. For example, if the management interfaces of your networking equipment
are on a single subnet, yet you do not intend to manage your networking
equipment with IBM Systems Director, do not discover devices on that subnet.

As system discovery runs, the System Discovery page refreshes the list of
discovered resources in the Discovered Manageable Systems table. You also can

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 171


view the results of this discovery by using the Discovery jobs task to examine the
associated job. You can view all discovered systems on the Navigate Resources
page.

While the discovery process is active, the System Discovery page also displays
additional elements:
v An icon and text message that states whether the discovery process is running
or stopping
v A Stop button that enables you to stop the discovery process that is updating
the Discovered Manageable Systems table
v A New discovery button that enables you to run another system discovery in
addition to the one that is currently active. If you run a new discovery, the new
discovery updates the Discovered Manageable Systems table. When you run a
new discovery, you must use the Discovery jobs task to view the results of the
current discovery.

Note: The time it takes for discovery to finish processing varies depending on
such factors as network performance and the number of systems that are
discovered. Avoid managing newly discovered resources for some time after the
discovery task finishes, because associated processing continues to run.

IP addresses
System discovery can use a single IP address, a single host name, or a single range
of IP addresses to discover manageable resources. When using a discovery profile,
you have options to specify multiple IP addresses and address ranges and import
IP address information in a text file. You can also exclude individual IP addresses,
IP address ranges, or entire subnets from discovery.

System discovery in IBM Systems Director version 6.2 supports both the IPv4 and
IPv6 protocols. Whether you specify a single IP address on the System Discovery
page or import a list of IP addresses, discovery requires that IP addresses adhere to
the following rules:
v The maximum permitted range of IP addresses is 256.
v For IP address ranges, the specified starting address must be less than the
ending address, where only the last piece of the starting and ending addresses
are unique. The following examples are valid patterns: a.a.a.b-a.a.a.c for an IPv4
address or a:a:a:a:a:a:a:b-a:a:a:a:a:a:a:c for an IPv6 address, where for each
example b is less than c.
v All addresses in a valid IPv4 address range must occur in the same Class C
subnet.
v When the interface allows (for example, when using the Discovery Profile
wizard), IPv6 address compression might be used to replace one or more
consecutive instances of 0 in an address. For example, using address
compression, this address DD01:0:0:0:0:0:0:1C would be written as DD01::1C.
v The IPv6 loopback address (0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 or ::1) is not supported.
v Prefix-length and scope ID for IPv6 addresses are not supported.

When discovering a range of IP addresses, use the smallest range possible.


v IPv4 example: Assume that you have a subnet 10.1.1.0 - 10.1.1.255, but all of
your systems are within the first 100 addresses. In this case, you would use
10.1.1.1-10.1.1.100 as the range instead of 10.1.1.1-10.1.1.255.
v IPv6 example: Assume that you have a subnet E290::51D2:9008:C01D:6420 -
E290::51D2:9008:C01D:651F, but all of your systems are within the first 100

172 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


addresses. In this case, you would use E290::51D2:9008:C01D:6420-
E290::51D2:9008:C01D:6484 as the range instead of E290::51D2:9008:C01D:6420-
E290::51D2:9008:C01D:651F.

Import IP address file format


When you have many IP addresses that you want to discover, consider using a
discovery profile to import one or more files that list the addresses to include in
and exclude from the discovery. An imported file can specify multiple single IP
addresses or address ranges to include and exclude. Discovery supports both IPv4
and IPv6 protocols.

Note: After creating the file, import it at the time you configure a discovery
profile. To create a discovery profile, click Create new profile on the System
Discovery page. For more information, see “Discovery profiles.”

Importing a file that lists IP addresses to include and exclude applies only to the
current discovery. To permanently exclude IP addresses from discovery, specify
that IBM Systems Director permanently ignore the IP addresses. Excluding IP
addresses in this way means that Systems Director does not communicate with or
manage resources by using the excluded IP addresses. For more information, see
“Permanently excluding IP addresses from discovery.”

To import a file, the file must meet the following criteria:


v The file must be a simple ASCII text file. The file extension does not matter.
v The file must be located on the system that is running the web browser that you
are using to create or edit the profile.
v Case does not matter.
v Do not use host names.
v Each line of the file can contain only one IP address or one IP address range.
v Write an IP address range as <start>-<end> where <start> is the starting IP
address of the range and <end> is the ending IP address of the range. For
example, this entry includes the specified IP address range:
10.42.104.0-10.42.104.200
v To exclude a single IP address or IP address range, begin the line with exclude=.
For example, both ExcluDe=9.22.3.114 or exclude=e290::51D2:9008:C01d:6420-
E290::51d2:9008:c01D:6484 are valid entries.

IPv6 restrictions for discovery


Starting with version 6.2, adds support for using IPv6 addresses to discover and
manage resources. Keep in mind the following IPv6 considerations, whether you
discover resources by specifying a single IP address, host name, or IP address
range or by using a discovery profile to specify multiple IP addresses and address
ranges.

IPv6 in-band restrictions

The following restriction applies when using IPv6 in-band for agentless-managed
systems, Platform Agent managed systems, and Common Agent managed systems.

Restriction: All discoverable operating systems that IBM Systems Director version
6.2 can manage by using IPv4 can also be managed by using IPv6 in-band, except
for Windows 2003 and Windows XP. Microsoft does not officially support DHCPv6
client with Windows 2003 or Windows XP, and so neither is fully IPv6 compliant.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 173


IPv6 out-of-band restrictions

The following restrictions affect discovery when using IPv6 out-of-band.

Restriction:
v IPv6 support for managing IBM BladeCenter servers out-of-band requires
Advanced Management Module Firmware v3.54 (BPET54B) or higher.
v IPv6 support for managing IBM Power Systems servers out-of-band through
Hardware Management Console (HMC) requires HMC V7R350 SP1, V7 R710 or
higher.
v IPv6 support for managing Power Systems servers out-of-band through
Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) requires IVM/Virtual I/O Server
(VIOS) 2.1.3 or higher.
v IPv6 support for managing Power Systems servers out-of-band using Flexible
Service Processor (FSP) is currently not available. This restriction does not apply
to Power Systems managed with IVM or HMC.
v IPv6 support for managing IBM System x servers out-of-band using Integrated
Management Module (IMM) is not available.

For more information about IBM Systems Director support for IPv6, see “IPv6
compliance”.
Related reference

IPv6 compliance

Discovery profiles
System discovery can use a discovery profile to discover manageable resources. A
discovery profile is a group of discovery settings that are saved on IBM Systems
Director Server. Settings for the profile include the type of resources to be
discovered, and whether to automatically request access to or collect inventory for
discovered resources. IBM Systems Director includes several default profiles that
you can use, or you can create profiles to suit your specific requirements.

Several options exist for working with discovery profiles. You can use the System
Discovery page to run an existing profile or create a uniqe profile. Use the Manage
Discovery Profiles page to create, copy, edit, delete, or run discovery profiles.
Choosing to create or edit a discovery profile launches the Discovery Profile
wizard, which helps you configure the profile.

Typically, a default discovery profile searches the primary subnet for the specified
target resources. Default profiles automatically use the IP address range of the
current subnet, as determined by the last start of the IBM Systems Director Server.
You can also create a profile that you base on a default profile. Simply changing
the IP addresses might be sufficient to create a profile that suits your needs.

When discovering a large number of resources, network traffic associated with the
discovery process might cause timeouts that result in some discoverable resources
remaining undiscovered. To help prevent this problem, use one or more discovery
profiles. Using a discovery profile enables you to target specific resources and limit
the number of communication protocols used during discovery. Limiting the
number of communication protocols used when discovering a large number of
resources helps avoid problems caused by network traffic collisions and timeouts.

IBM Systems Director includes the following default profiles:

174 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Default agentless discovery
Discovers agentless-managed systems running AIX, Linux, or Windows1.
Default Common Agent discovery
Discovers systems on the local subnet that have IBM Director Agent,
versions 5.10 and 5.20, or Common Agent, version 5.0 or later, installed.2, 3

Default getting started discovery


Discovers the same types of systems on the local subnet that are
discovered by Getting started discovery. For more information, see
“Getting started discovery”.
Default HMC managing IBM Power Systems discovery
Discovers IBM Power Systems and System z servers on the local subnet
that are under the control of Hardware Management Console (HMC) or
Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM).
Default IBM BladeCenter discovery
Discovers IBM BladeCenter systems, by way of either a management
module or an advanced management module.
Default IBM Power Systems Servers with service processors discovery
Discovers IBM Power Systems servers with service processors.
Default IBM System x Servers with service processors discovery
Discovers IBM System x servers with service processors.
Default Platform Agent and agentless discovery
Discovers IBM Systems Director Platform Agent , version 6.1 or later,
managed systems; IBM Director Core Services, versions 5.10 and 5.20,
managed systems; and agentless-managed systems running AIX, Linux, or
Windows.4, 5
1. Default agentless discovery profile does not discover agentless-managed
systems enabled for SNMP.
2. Discovery of IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and 5.20 is provided only as a
step toward upgrading discovered agents to a more recent version. IBM
Systems Director version 6.2 does not support managing IBM Director Agent,
version 5.10. For more information, see “Version compatibility of IBM Systems
Director components.”
3. IPv6 is not supported for IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and 5.20. Common
Agent version 6.2 includes support for IPv6. but previous versions do not
support IPv6 addresses.
4. Discovery of IBM Director Core Services, versions 5.10 and 5.20, is provided
only as a step toward upgrading discovered agents to a more recent version.
IBM Systems Director version 6.2 does not support managing IBM Director
Core Services, version 5.10. For more information, see “Version compatibility of
IBM Systems Director components.”
5. IPv6 is not supported for IBM Director Core Services, versions 5.10 and 5.20.
Platform Agent version 6.2 includes support for IPv6. but previous versions do
not support IPv6 addresses.

When you need to create a unique profile, the Discovery Profile wizard assists you
in identifying the type (and subtype) of resource that you want to discover and
configuring the necessary protocols. For more information about creating, editing
and deleting profiles, see “Managing discovery profiles”.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 175


Discovery protocols
A discovery protocol is any network communication protocol that IBM Systems
Director Server uses during the discovery process to discover a resource.Getting
started discovery uses a predetermined list of protocols. When you specify a single
IP address, a single host name, or a single range of IP addresses, system discovery
uses one or more protocols based on the selected target resource type. Using a
discovery profile enables you to refine the target resource type and configure
specific protocols that you want to use.

The communication protocols that IBM Systems Director Server uses during
discovery depend on the protocols used by the target resource type. You need to
decide about the different protocols only when you create or edit a discovery
profile. The Discovery Profile wizard helps you select and configure the correct
protocol for the type of resource that you want to discover.

When discovering a large number of resources, network traffic associated with the
discovery process might cause timeouts that result in some discoverable resources
remaining undiscovered. To help prevent this problem, use one or more discovery
profiles. Using a discovery profile enables you to target specific resources and limit
the number of communication protocols used during discovery. Limiting the
number of communication protocols used when discovering a large number of
resources helps avoid problems caused by network traffic collisions and timeouts.

By default, IBM Systems Director supports the following discovery protocols:


Agent manager discovery
Agent manager discovery specifically targets the discovery of Tivoli
common agents. In the Tivoli paradigm, Service Location Protocol (SLP) is
not supported and management servers contact an agent manager that
knows about the agents in their environment. You can select the agent
managers that you want to use in discovery.
Common Agent Services (CAS) discovery
CAS discovery utilizes Service Location Protocol (SLP) discovery, with
which clients can locate servers and other services on the network.
Common Information Model (CIM) discovery
CIM discovery utilizes the Service Location Protocol (SLP) for discovery.
With CIM discovery, clients can locate servers and other services on the
network.
Interprocess communication (IPC) discovery
IPC is the process by which programs send messages to each other.
Sockets, semaphores, signals, and internal message queues are common
methods of interprocess communication. IPC is also a mechanism of an
operating system that enables processes to communicate with each other
within the same computer or over a network. IPC leverages services that
IBM Systems Director provides that components use to communicate with
each other. By using these services, a server task can communicate with an
agent task running on a target.
Secure shell (ssh) discovery
Secure shell is a Unix-based command interface and protocol for securely
accessing a remote computer. With ssh discovery, you can specify either a
single IP address or a range of IP addresses upon which to run discovery
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) discovery
SNMP is a network management standard widely used in TCP/IP

176 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


networks. SNMP performs management services by using a distributed
architecture of management systems and agents. SNMP provides a method
of managing network hosts such as workstation or server computers,
routers, bridges, and hubs from a centrally-located computer running
network-management software.
Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) discovery
With SMI-S discovery, clients can locate servers and other services on the
network. It is a design specification developed by the Storage Networking
Industry Association (SNIA) that specifies a secure and reliable interface
with which storage management systems (SMSs) can identify, classify,
monitor, and control physical and logical resources in a storage area
network (SAN). The interface integrates the various devices to be managed
in a storage area network (SAN) and the tools used to manage them.
Windows Distributed component object model (DCOM) discovery
Use Windows DCOM (an extension of the Microsoft Component Object
Model (COM) to support objects distributed across a network)
configuration to specify either a single IP address or a range of IP
addresses upon which to run discovery.

Note: Additional discovery protocols are routinely created by vendors. For more
information about communicating with a device that uses a protocol that is not
listed here, contact the manufacturer or software provider for that device.

Choosing which discovery to use


Discovering your resources in the most efficient manner means deciding which
method best suits your needs. You can use getting started discovery, system
discovery by using IP addresses or a host name that you specify, or system
discovery by using a discovery profile. Each method has advantages and
disadvantages to consider.
Table 16. Recommended use for each discovery type
Discovery method When this discovery method is appropriate
Getting started (initial) v Your management server (the system running IBM Systems Director Server and all
discovery managed resources reside on a single subnet, for example, small and medium
business (SMB) and small office or home office (SOHO) environments.
v The subnet is densely populated with many types of agents or resources.
v Efficiency is not required. For example, discovering a sparsely populated subnet by
processing the entire subnet range takes longer because many requests using many
protocols must complete.
System discovery: v You are managing a single subnet (or only a few subnets) and you want to manage
Specifying a single IP all resources that are on the subnet or all resources of a given type.
address or host name, or
v The subnet is a densely populated single range of IP addresses for a single resource
a range of IP addresses
type that you want to discover at one time.
System discovery: Using a v Your resources span many subnets.
discovery profile
v A specific type of resource occurs in multiple IP address ranges.
v You want to automatically request access to or collect inventory for the discovered
resources.
v You need to discover various types of resources by using targeted discovery profiles.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 177


Each discovery method has advantages and disadvantages. Understanding this
information can help you decide which discovery method is best for your
systems-management environment.
Table 17. Advantages and disadvantages of discovery methods
Discovery method Advantages Disadvantages
Getting started (initial) Single-click discovery. v Discovers only agents in the local subnet.
discovery Agents include:
– IBM Systems Director Common Agent,
version 6.1 or later1
– IBM Systems Director Platform Agent,
version 6.1 or later1
– IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and
5.202, 3
– IBM Director Core Services, versions
5.10 and 5.202, 3
– Agentless-managed systems
v An inefficient form of discovery because it
attempts all agent-related discovery
protocols on the local subnet. This
inefficiency might cause the management
server to time out on one or more
discovery requests, resulting in a small
percentage of discoverable resources
remaining undiscovered.
System discovery: v Single-step task that can discover all v Discovers one system or IP address range
Specifying a single IP systems without requiring information per resource-type combination at a time. It
address or host name, about what type of resource is located at is an inefficient form of discovery because
or a range of IP each IP address. it attempts all discovery protocols for the
addresses given resource type on all specified IP
v Discovers a specific system using an IP
Note: Discovery addresses. This inefficiency might cause
address or host name.
supports IPv4 and IPv6 the management server to time out on one
protocols. v Discovers multiple systems using a range
or more discovery requests, resulting in a
of IP addresses.
small percentage of discoverable resources
v Can limit discovery based on the resource remaining undiscovered.
type.
v Schedules to run discovery on a recurring
basis

178 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 17. Advantages and disadvantages of discovery methods (continued)
Discovery method Advantages Disadvantages
System discovery: v Provides various default discovery v Does not provide a progress indicator for
Using a discovery profiles. discovery completion. Instead, use the job
profile progress indicator on the Active and
v Provides a wizard that helps you create a
profile. Scheduled Jobs page.
v Provides finer categories of resource types v Cannot discover multiple resource types
for selection. in a single discovery profile.
v Discovers multiple systems using a range v Takes more time and system knowledge
of IP addresses. to configure due to extensive options and
settings.
v Provides discovery-protocol selection that
enables the most efficient discovery of
target resources and reduces the chance
for network timeouts.
v Discovers multiple ranges of IP addresses.
v Schedules to run discovery on a recurring
basis.
v Imports a list of IP addresses to discover.
v Provides an option to automatically
request access to discovered resources.
v Provides an option to automatically collect
inventory for discovered resources.

1. Common Agent version 6.2 and Platform Agent version 6.2 include support for IPv6. Previous versions of these
agents do not support IPv6 addresses.
2. Discovery of IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and 5.20, and IBM Director Core Services, versions 5.10 and 5.20,
is provided only as a step toward upgrading the discovered agents to a more recent version. IBM Systems
Director version 6.2 does not support managing IBM Director Agent, version 5.10 or IBM Director Core Services,
version 5.10. For more information, see “Version compatibility of IBM Systems Director components.”
3. IPv6 is not supported for IBM Director Agent, versions 5.10 and 5.20 or IBM Director Core Services, versions
5.10 and 5.20.

Viewing the discovery manager summary


You can view a summary of all activity within the past 30 days that is associated
with discovery, including discovered systems, collected inventory data, system
access, and system authentication. The information on the summary page is
refreshed automatically when there are any changes.

To view the discovery manager summary, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. A list of available summary pages
is displayed.
3. On the Manage tab, scroll to the Discovery manager section heading and click
it. The discovery manager summary for the past 30 days is displayed.
4. View the Discovery and Inventory section. This section provides the following
information:
v A pie chart and corresponding list that indicate the number of discovered
systems for which inventory was collected, broken down into the following
three categories:
– Systems with no agent (agentless)

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 179


Note: Agentless pertains to a type of data collection that is accomplished
without installing additional agents. Data is obtained by using software
that is already installed on the resource.
– Systems with a platform agent
– Systems with a common agent
Click any of the category list items to see a breakdown of the systems in that
category.
v The number of discovered systems for which no inventory was collected.

Note: A system that has not been discovered does not show up anywhere on
this page.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
System Discovery
Use the System Discovery page to run a discovery. Discover specific
types of resources for a single IP address or host name or a single IP
address range, or you can use a discovery profile to customize the
discovery settings.
Collect and view inventory
Use the View and Collect Inventory page to collect the most current
inventory from a resource or view the inventory of a resource.
Navigate resources
Use the Navigate Resources page to view and manage discovery
options on an individual resource level.
5. View the Access and Authentication section. This section provides the
following information:
v The number of systems that are accessible.
v A pie chart and corresponding list that indicate the access levels of the
systems, broken down into the following three categories:
Systems with no access
IBM Systems Director is not authenticated to these systems and is
unable to perform any tasks on them.
Systems with partial access
IBM Systems Director has full access to some remote service access
points for these systems but no access to others.

Note: A system with partial access has multiple access points, but
not all these access points are accessible. To gain full access, you
must configure credentials to authenticate with each of the access
points. For more information, see “Accessing a secured system with
configure access” and “Accessing a secured system with request
access”.
Systems with full access
IBM Systems Director is fully authenticated and, barring other
inhibitors, able to perform tasks on these systems.

Click any of the category list items to see a breakdown of the systems in that
category.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
Request access for 'no access' systems
Use the Request access for 'no access' systems page to view the list of
systems that are in the no access state. Also use this page to request
access, with a user ID and password, for any of the listed 'no access'
systems.

180 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Manage Credentials
Use the Manage Credentials page to manage all your shared
credentials.

You also can reach the summary page by using Find a Task. For more information,
see “Finding a task.”

Renaming discovered systems automatically


You can configure IBM Systems Director to automatically rename each discovered
system to a name that matches a template that you create.

Following discovery, IBM Systems Director assigns a name to each discovered


system that might be cryptic and unsuitable. To help you better organize your
systems and ensure consistency among system names, it is often beneficial to
rename each system to follow a certain convention. You can accomplish this task
for each individual system in Navigate Resources, which becomes laborious when
you have a large number of discovered systems. An easier and more efficient
option is to configure IBM Systems Director to automatically rename each
discovered system to a name that matches a specified, predefined template.

To automatically rename discovered systems, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and then click Auto Rename. The Auto Rename page, which contains a list of
resource types and any associated rename templates, is displayed.
2. On the Auto Rename page, select the profile that you want to configure for
automatic renaming.
3. Click Edit. The Edit Template page is displayed.
4. Use the Edit Template page to specify the convention (template) to be used
when systems are automatically renamed and enable the auto rename task:
a. Decide which variable should be displayed first in the name of each
resource and select it from the list, which varies depending on the resource
type that is selected.

Note: To specify hardcoded text to be inserted into the name template,


select %TEXT%.
b. Click Insert.
c. Select each subsequent variable and click Insert after each one.
d. If you need to restore the default template value to the input field, click
Reset template to defaults.
e. Enable the application of the template to the name of each system after it is
discovered by selecting Yes.
5. When you are finished with the Edit Template page, click OK. The template
that you specified will be displayed in the table.
6. Click Rename. The Job Launcher page is displayed.
7. Use the Job Launcher page to set up targets and options for your auto rename
task:
Targets
Use the Targets page to add to the template the targets on which the
auto rename task will run:
a. In the Show menu, select All Targets to add individual resources or
Groups to add group of resources.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 181


b. Select the targets that you want to add
c. Click Add.
d. Continue selecting targets and adding them as needed.
All the selected targets will be renamed upon execution of the task.
Schedule
Use the Schedule page to set the auto rename task to run immediately
or at a specified time and date in the future. You can also schedule the
task to repeat at a specified frequency.
Notification
Use the Notification page to choose options for an email notification
that you can receive as the auto rename process progresses.
Options
Use the Options page to specify the time to use for the system time and
how to handle unavailable systems.
8. When you are finished with the Job Launcher page, click OK. The auto rename
task will either run or be scheduled to run.

Performing getting started discovery


Use the Discover button on the Welcome page to perform getting started (initial)
discovery of the systems in your local subnet.

After you install IBM Systems Director and start the IBM Systems Director Web
interface for the first time, you are presented with a Discover button on the Start
tab of the Welcome page. Use the associated task to perform agent-based discovery
on only your local subnet and, optionally, request access to the systems that are
discovered.

The first time you perform getting started discovery, use the Start page. If you
want to perform another getting started discovery, you need to run a system
discovery using the Default getting started discovery profile.

Note: Getting started discovery attempts all agent-related discovery protocols on


the local subnet. This inefficiency might cause the management server to time out
on one or more discovery requests, resulting in a small percentage of discoverable
resources remaining undiscovered.

To perform the first getting started discovery, complete the following steps:
1. Launch the IBM Systems Director Web interface and click the Start tab of the
Welcome page.
2. Click Discover. The Discover Network page is displayed.
3. Choose either of the following methods to request access to the discovered
systems:
Use user ID and password
Prompts you for a user ID and password that is then used to request
access to all the discovered systems. Access is granted to those systems
that accept the provided credentials.
Request access later
Discovers the systems but does not attempt to request access to any of
them. You can then use the request access tasks provided by IBM
Systems Director to manually request access at a later time.

182 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. Click Discover. A status icon displays the status of the discovery task, and the
dynamic elements on the page (for example, the pie chart) change to reflect the
current statistics of the set of discovered resources.
You will see Discovery completed in place of the Discover button after all the
discovery requests are sent. However, systems continue to appear as they
respond to the discovery request and manageable objects are created.

Note: The time it takes for discovery to finish processing varies depending on
such factors as network performance and the number of systems that are
discovered. Avoid managing newly discovered resources for a time after the
discovery task finishes, because associated processing continues to run.

After discovery is completed, use the navigate resources task to view and work
with the resources.

Discovering systems with system discovery


Use the system discovery task to discover one or more resources based on a
specific IP address, host name, or range of IP addresses or by using a discovery
profile. You can also use system discovery to discover properly configured systems
that use mirrored images. View the results of the current system discovery or a
system discovery that ran previously.

Performing a system discovery


Use the System Discovery task to discover one or more resources by specifying a
single IP address, single host name, or a single range of IP addresses, or by using a
discovery profile.

To perform a system discovery, complete the following steps:

Note:
v Discover only those resources that you intend to manage with IBM Systems
Director. For example, if the management interfaces of your networking
equipment are on a single subnet, yet you do not intend to manage your
networking equipment with IBM Systems Director, do not discover devices on
that subnet.
v When discovering a large number of resources, network traffic associated with
the discovery process might cause timeouts that result in some discoverable
resources remaining undiscovered. To help prevent this problem, use one or
more discovery profiles. Using a discovery profile enables you to target specific
resources and limit the number of communication protocols used during
discovery. Limiting the number of communication protocols used when
discovering a large number of resources helps avoid problems caused by
network traffic collisions and timeouts.
1. Open the System Discovery page using either of these two methods:
v On the Start page on the Welcome page, click System discovery under
Optional tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click System Discovery.
The System Discovery page is displayed.
2. Select one of the following discovery methods:

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 183


Table 18. System discovery methods
To do this task: Complete these steps:
Use a single IPv4 or IPv6 address 1. Select Single IPv4 address or Single
IPv6 address from the Select a discovery
option field.
2. In the IP address field, type the IP
address of the system that you want to
discover.
3. If you want to discover only a specific
resource type, select it from the Select
the resource type to discover list.
Use a range of IPv4 or IPv6 addresses 1. Select Range of IPv4 addresses or Range
of IPv6 addresses from the Select a
discovery option field.
2. For the IP address range that contains
the systems that you want to discover,
type the complete low-end IP address in
the Starting IP address fields and the
last piece of the high-end IP address in
the Ending IP address field.
3. If you want to discover only a specific
resource type, select it from the Select
the resource type to discover list.
Use the host name of a system 1. Select Single host name from the Select
a discovery option field.
2. In the Host name field, type the host
name of the system that you want to
discover.
3. If you want to discover only a specific
resource type, select it from the Select
the resource type to discover list.
Use an existing discovery profile 1. Select Select a discovery profile to run
from the Select a discovery option field.
2. Select the profile that you want to use
from the Discovery profile to run field.
Create and use a discovery profile 1. Click Create new profile under
Advanced Tasks.
2. Use the Discovery Profile wizard to
create a discovery profile. After saving
the profile, the System Discovery page
display automatically, and the profile
you created is already selected.

3. Run the discovery.


v Click Discover Now if you want to run the discovery immediately.
v Click Schedule if you want to schedule the discovery to run at a specific
time. The Job Launcher page is displayed. Use the Job Launcher page to
configure the Schedule, Notification, and Options settings for the discovery
task.
The System discovery page updates in the following ways:
v A message displays information about the job under which the discovery
task runs.
v When the discovery task runs immediately, a status icon and text message
indicate the status of the discovery process.

184 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v As the process discovers manageable resources, the Discovered Manageable
Systems table displays them. The Discovered Manageable Systems table
displays the resources that are discovered during the current discovery and
those resources that were discovered previously.
v The Discover Now and Schedule buttons are deactivated and the Stop and
New Discovery buttons appear.
4. Optional: If you want to stop the discovery process, click Stop. If you want to
run a new discovery while the current discovery continues to run, click New
Discovery. When you choose to run a new discovery, the Discovered
Manageable Systems table displays results for the new discovery only. To view
the results of the current discovery, use the Discovery jobs task.

As the process discovers manageable resources, the Discovered Manageable


Systems table displays them, including those resources that were discovered
previously.

Note: After a resource is discovered, the virtual systems that are associated with
that resource are also discovered.
v To view the results of a specific discovery that ran at a previous time or a
discovery that is scheduled to run at a later time, use the Discovery jobs task.
v To view all discovered resources, use the Navigate Resources task.

Note: The time it takes for discovery to finish processing varies depending on
such factors as network performance and the number of systems that are
discovered. Avoid managing newly discovered resources for a time after the
discovery task finishes, because associated processing continues to run.

When the discovery process completes, the status icon and text message disappear
and the Discover Now and Schedule buttons become active again.

Discovering systems that use a mirrored image


Systems that are cloned (or use a mirrored image) and managed by must be
correctly configured to ensure their successful discovery.

To discover cloned systems, they must be configured in the following ways:


v All cloned systems must have a unique identifier (UID).
v Each cloned Common Agent managed system must have a Tivoli globally
unique identifier (GUID).
v Any cloned system that uses Secure Shell (SSH) must have a unique Secure Shell
(SSH) host key.

To discover cloned systems, perform the following steps.

Note: You can also use the reset_diragent_keys command to perform these steps.
See “reset_diragent_keys command” for information.
1. For the specified mirrored systems, view and compare the UID entries on the
host and the mirrored system to ensure that the UID entries are unique. For
Common Agent managed systems, perform a similar comparison for the Tivoli
GUID entries.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 185


Platform Instructions
AIX, Linux For Platform Agent managed systems, run the following command:
od -t x1 /etc/ibm/director/twgagent/twgagent.uid

For Common Agent managed systems, run the following


command: LANG=C;/usr/tivoli/guid/tivguid -Show
IBM i (formerly Note: Some characters are not readable. For Platform Agent
i5/OS) managed systems, run the following command: DSPF
STMF(’/etc/ibm/director/twgagent/twgagent.uid’)

For Common Agent managed systems, run the following


command: DSPF STMF(’/etc/TIVGUID’)
Note: Alternatively, use the following command to create a
spoolfile that contains the viewable TIVGUID: SBMJOB CMD(CALL
PGM(QCASNATIVE/GUID) PARM(’-show’)) JOBD(QCPMGTDIR/QCPMGTDIR)
Windows For all mirrored systems, compare the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
ComputerName\ComputerName\TWGMachineID
Note: The UID is displayed in reverse byte order.

For Common Agent managed systems, from the \Program


Files\tivoli\guid directory, run tivguid.exe -Show.

2. For all mirrored systems, delete the UID entry that might have been
duplicated.

Platform Instructions
AIX, Linux Run the following command: rm -f /etc/ibm/director/twgagent/
twgagent.uid
IBM i (formerly Remove the following file: /etc/ibm/director/twgagent/
i5/OS) twgagent.uid
Windows For all mirrored systems, delete the following value in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
ComputerName\ComputerName key
Value: TWGMachineID

For Common Agent managed systems, from the C:\Program


Files\IBM\Director\agent\runtime\agent\bin\ directory, run
endpoint.bat stop

3. For Agentless managed systems, proceed to step 4 on page 187. For Common
Agent managed systems generate a new Tivoli GUID and a new UID. For
Platform Agent managed systems, generate a new UID:

Platform Instructions
AIX, Linux Run the following command: /opt/ibm/director/bin/genuid

And, for Common Agent managed systems, also run the following
commands:
1. /opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh
stop
2. LANG=C;/usr/tivoli/guid/tivguid -Write -New
3. /opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh
start

186 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Platform Instructions
IBM i For Platform Agent managed systems, restart the platform agent.

For Common Agent managed systems, perform the following


steps:
1. Run the following command to stop the Platform Agent:
ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*CIMOM)
2. Run the following command to stop the Common Agent:
ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(CAS)
3. Run the following commands:
a. SBMJOB CMD(CALL PGM(QCASNATIVE/GUID) PARM(’-Remove’))
JOBD(QCPMGTDIR/QCPMGTDIR)
b. SBMJOB CMD(CALL PGM(QCASNATIVE/GUID) PARM(’-Create’))
JOBD(QCPMGTDIR/QCPMGTDIR)
4. Use the following command to start the Platform Agent:
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*CIMOM)
5. Use the following command to start the Common Agent:
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(CAS)
Windows For Common Agent managed systems, run the following
commands:
v From the C:\Program Files\tivoli\guid\ directory, run
tivguid.exe -Write -New
v From the C:\Program Files\IBM\Director\bin\ directory, run
GENUID.exe
For Platform Agent managed systems, from the C:\Program
Files\IBM\Director\bin\ directory, run GENUID.exe

4. If the mirrored system does not use SSH, go to step 10 on page 188.
5. If you must determine the ssh key, run the following command: ssh-keygen
-lf /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub.
6. If the mirrored system uses SSH, stop ssh:

Platform Instructions
AIX Run the following command: stopsrc -s sshd
Linux Run one of the following commands:
v /etc/init.d/sshd stop
v service sshd stop
IBM i The command you must run depends on which version of the
operating system you are running.
Windows Consult the documentation for the SSH client that you are using.

7. Delete the SSH host keys:

Platform Instructions
AIX, Linux Run the following commands:
1. rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
2. rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
3. rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
IBM i The command syntax depends on which version of the operating
system you are running.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 187


Platform Instructions
Windows Delete the following files:
v C:\Program Files\OpenSSH\etc\ssh_host_rsa_key
v C:\Program Files\OpenSSH\etc\ssh_host_dsa_key

8. If your SSH client requires that you explicitly regenerate the SSH host keys,
run the commands to regenerate them.

Note: Some SSH clients require that you run specific commands to regenerate
the SSH host keys, but some regenerate the SSH host keys when you restart
SSH.

Platform Instructions
AIX, Linux Run the following commands:
Note: In the following commands, " represents two single
quotation mark characters (').
1. /usr/bin/ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key -N ’’ -t
rsa1
2. /usr/bin/ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -N ’’ -t
rsa
3. /usr/bin/ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key -N ’’
-t dsa
IBM i How you regenerate the SSH host keys depends on which version
of the operating system you are running.
Windows Determine if you must manually regenerate the SSH host keys by
consulting the documentation for the SSH client that you are using.

9. Restart the SSH service:

Platform Instructions
AIX Run this command: startsrc -s sshd
Linux Run one of the following commands:
v /etc/init.d/sshd start
v service sshd start
IBM i The command syntax depends on which version of the operating
system you are running.
Windows Consult the documentation for the SSH client that you are using.

10. For Platform Agent managed systems and Agentless managed systems, go to
the next step. For Common Agent managed systems, from the C:\Program
Files\IBM\Director\agent\runtime\agent\bin\ directory, run endpoint.bat
start.
11. Run system discovery to discover the cloned system:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, click Inventory > System
Discovery.
b. Specify either the IP address or the host name of the cloned system, then
click Discover Now.

Viewing system discovery results


Viewing the systems and other resources discovered while and after the discovery
task is running is an important aspect of performing system discovery.

188 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Generally, use the System discovery page to view results of a currently running
discovery task and use the Discovery jobs task to view results of a discovery that
ran previously.

When you are viewing results of a system discovery, keep in mind the following
points:
v The discovery process discovers only systems and other types of resources that
can be managed by IBM Systems Director. In other words, just because you can
"ping" a resource does not mean that IBM Systems Director can discover it.
v Some results indicate multiple IP addresses on the same discovered resource that
might represent separate operating systems, components, or other items.
Consider the following examples:
– Results indicate two IP addresses for a particular server that uses an
integrated management module (IMM). In this case, one IP address represents
the external IP of the IMM and the other IP address is a USB network
connection. Both discovered resources are valid.
– Results indicate multiple operating systems for a particular server that uses
more than one network interface card. In this case, successfully requesting
access to the discovered resources removes multiple occurrences of the
operating system.
v The discovery process might create an operating system resource for any device
that supports the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. For example, discovery results
might show a IBM BladeCenter chassis resource and an operating system
resource for a single managed resource (the chassis). If that managed resource is
something other than an operating system (for example, a switch, a BladeCenter
chassis, and so on), then the associated operating system resource is invalid.
Either ignore or remove the associated operating system resource. Requesting
access to such an invalid operating system resource might lead to errors and
further confusion.

Using system discovery to view current results


Use the System Discovery task to view a table that contains the results of your
current system discovery task.

To use the System Discovery task to view the system discovery results as you
discover systems, complete the following steps:
1. Open the System Discovery page using either of these two methods:
v On the Start page on the Welcome page, click System discovery under
Optional tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click System Discovery.
The System Discovery page is displayed.
2. Discover systems by using one of the available methods.
3. View systems as they are discovered in the Discovered Manageable Systems
table.

Note: When you are viewing results of a system discovery, consider the
following items:
v Displayed results include resources discovered by other IBM Systems
Director users who are accessing the same management server to perform
discoveries. So the Discovered Manageable Systems table displays results
that might include additional resources that are not located at the target IP
addresses or host names that you expect.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 189


v When you click New Discovery to run a new discovery while a previous
discovery is still running, the Discovered Manageable Systems table does
not include results for the previous discovery. To view results for the
previous discovery, you must use the Discovery Jobs task or the Active and
Scheduled Jobs task.

After the discovery process completes, all the discovered manageable systems are
displayed in the Discovered Manageable Systems table. The table maintains the
information until you close the Systems Discovery page, at which time it is cleared.

Note: Any discovered manageable system also is listed in one or more groups on
the Navigate Resources page.

Using discovery jobs to view previous results


Use the Discovery Jobs task to view the results of a specific system discovery task
that ran previously or one that is currently running. For IBM Systems Director to
retain the results of a specific system discovery task, the job under which the task
ran must still exist.

To use the Discovery Jobs task to view the results of a specific system discovery
task, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Inventory >
System Discovery. The System Discovery page displays.
2. Under Advanced Tasks, click Discovery jobs. The Active and Schedule Jobs
page displays. The entries in the Discovery jobs table include only those jobs
under which system discovery tasks ran.

Note: By using the Discovery Jobs task, the Active and Scheduled Jobs page
displays the Discovery jobs table, which displays only discovery-related jobs. If
you use the Active and Scheduled Jobs task, the resulting Active and
Scheduled Jobs table lists all jobs, including those jobs that are not related to
system discovery.
3. In the Discovery jobs table, click the job that represents the system discovery
for which you want to view the results. The properties page for the selected
entry displays.
4. Click the Discovered Systems tab to view the Discovered Manageable
Systems table, which contains results for the system discovery task.

Each system discovery task runs under a specific job. As long as that job is not
deleted, you can use the Discovery jobs task to view results for the associated
system discovery.

Note: Typically, it is easier to use the System Discovery page to view the results of
a currently running system discovery task. However, when you click New
Discovery on the System Discovery page to run an additional discovery while the
previous discovery is still running, you must use the Discovery Jobs task (or the
Active and Scheduled Jobs task) to view results for the previous discovery.

Managing discovery profiles


Use the Managing Discovery Profiles page to create a unique discovery profile,
create a profile based on an existing profile, edit an existing profile, or delete one
or more profiles.

190 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Creating a discovery profile
Use the Manage Discovery Profiles page to create a discovery profile. You can
create a unique profile or you can create a profile that you base on an existing
profile.

Before you start creating a profile, determine if a profile exists that at least in part
suits your needs. For example, IBM Systems Director for 6.2 includes several
default profiles created to find specific types of resources. To examine a default
profile more closely, on the Manage Discovery Profiles page, select the profile that
you want to examine, then click Edit. (Using Edit on a default profile enables you
to examine all the profile settings, but it does not allow you to change any of
them.)

To create a discovery profile, complete the following steps:


1. Open the System Discovery page using either of these two methods:
v On the Start page on the Welcome page, click System discovery under
Optional tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click System Discovery.
The System Discovery page is displayed.
2. Under Advanced Tasks, click Manage discovery profiles. The Manage
Discovery Profiles page is displayed.
3. On the Manage Discovery Profiles page, use one of the following methods to
start the Discovery Profile wizard.
v To create a unique discovery profile, click Create.
v To create a profile that is based on an existing profile, select the profile that
you want to copy, then click Create Like.
You can use Create Like with a default profile to easily alter the IP addresses
settings to find specific resources at new addresses that you specify.
4. Use the Discovery Profile wizard to create and save your discovery profile.

After you exit the Discovery Profile wizard, the new discovery profile appears in
the Discovery Profiles table on the Manage Discovery Profiles page and in the list
of available profiles to run on the System Discovery page.

Editing, copying, and deleting discovery profiles


Use the Manage Discovery Profiles page to create a unique discovery profile, create
a discovery profile like an existing profile, edit a profile, or delete a profile.

To edit or delete a discovery profile, or to create a profile based on an existing


profile, a discovery profile must exist. You can also use this page to create a unique
discovery profile that you then can manage. See “Creating a discovery profile” for
instructions.

To edit or delete a discovery profile, or to create a profile based on an existing


profile, complete the following steps:
1. Open the System Discovery page using either of these two methods:
v On the Start page on the Welcome page, click System discovery under
Optional tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click System Discovery.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 191


The System Discovery page is displayed.
2. Under Advanced Tasks, click Manage discovery profiles. The Manage
Discovery Profiles page is displayed.
3. On the Manage Discovery Profiles page, select one of the following actions.

Note: When working with discovery profiles, you can select one or more
profiles at a time. If you select multiple profiles, you have only the options of
running them or deleting them.
Table 19. Discovery profile actions
To do this task: Complete these steps:
Create a discovery profile based on an 1. Select the profile on which you want to
existing profile base the new discovery profile.
2. Click Create Like. The Discovery Profile
wizard is displayed. The profile name
defaults to Copy of (original profile name),
but the remaining fields retain the same
values and selections as the original
profile.
3. Edit the profile properties as needed,
clicking Next to continue through the
wizard.
4. Click Finish to exit the wizard. The new
discovery profile appears in the
Discovery Profiles table on the Manage
Discovery Profiles page and in the list of
available profiles to run on the System
Discovery page.
Edit an existing discovery profile 1. Select the profile that you want to edit.
2. Click Edit. The Discovery Profile wizard
is displayed.
3. Edit the profile properties as needed,
clicking Next to continue through the
wizard.
4. Click Finish.
Delete an existing discovery profile 1. Select the profile that you want to delete.
2. Click Delete. A confirmation message is
displayed.
3. Click OK in the confirmation message
box to delete the selected profile. The
deleted profile no longer appears in the
Discovery Profiles table on the Manage
Discovery Profiles page or in the list of
available profiles to run on the System
Discovery page.
Note: Any scheduled event that uses a
deleted profile continues to run as
scheduled. When the scheduled event tries
to run the deleted profile, the event fails.

Permanently excluding IP addresses from discovery


Attempting to discover resources at IP addresses that you do not want to discover
or cannot manage takes extra time and can negatively affect discovery
performance. When you have many IP addresses that you want all future
discoveries to permanently ignore, consider updating IP preferences for the
management server. Updating the IPPreference.properties file causes all future
192 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
discoveries to ignore the specified IP addresses, but also prevents IBM Systems
Director from communicating with or managing the IP addresses.

Note: Before editing the IPPreference.properties file, consider carefully whether


you want to prevent Systems Director from communicating with or managing the
specified IP addresses. If you want only the discovery process to ignore the IP
addresses without disrupting the ability of Systems Director to communicate with
the IP addresses, use a discovery profile to exclude the IP addresses. You can
configure a discovery profile to import a file that specifies the IP addresses to
exclude. By using the imported file, discovery ignores the excluded IP addresses
only when running the associated profile. For more information, see “Import
address file”.

Consider having Systems Director permanently ignore IP addresses only if at least


one of the following conditions applies:
v The specified IP address or address range represents one or more multiple
network interface cards that you want to prevent communicating with Systems
Director
v The specified IP address or address range represents one or more resources
thatSystems Director cannot manage or resources that you do not want Systems
Director to manage
v The specified subnet is not one that Systems Director uses to manage resources

You can exclude one or more individual IP addresses, an address range, or an


entire subnet. For example:
v When a managed resource has multiple network interface cards, exclude all but
the IP address that Systems Director uses to communicate with the resource.
v When managed resources are on more than one subnet, exclude the subnet that
Systems Director does not use to manage resources.

To permanently exclude IP addresses, perform the following steps:


1. Use a text editor to open an empty file named IPPreference.properties in the
following location: install_path/data/IPPreference.properties
where
install_path is the path where you installed IBM Systems Director.

Note: If the /data/IPPreference.properties file exists, open the file with a text
editor, then go to the next step.
2. Type the IP addresses that you want to exclude:
com.ibm.director.agent.excluded.ip.prefix=<IP_addresses>
where IP_address is one or more IPv4 or IPv6 addresses or address ranges that
you want to exclude.
v To exclude one or more individual IP addresses, use a comma character (,) to
separate the IP addresses:
com.ibm.director.endpoint.excluded.ip.prefix=192.168.53.1,192.168.53.22

To exclude an IP address range:


com.ibm.director.endpoint.excluded.ip.prefix=192.168.53.1-192.168.53.150

To exclude a subnet, use the asterisk character (*) as a wildcard:


com.ibm.director.endpoint.excluded.ip.prefix=192.168.*

Note:

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 193


v Each entry in the IPPreference.properties file must be on a separate line.
v To insert a comment, begin the line with a number (#) character.
3. Save and close the file.

For Systems Director to ignore the excluded IP addresses, you must restart the
management server.

Collecting and viewing inventory data


Inventory collection is the process by which IBM Systems Director Server establishes
connections with network-level resources, such as computers, switches, or printers,
that have already been discovered and collects data about the hardware and
software that is currently installed on those resources. Use the View and Collect
Inventory task to view and manage an extended set of resources and relationships
for network-level resources that have already been discovered.

Before you can collect inventory for a resource and view the inventory data, you
must discover the resource by using System Discovery and also have access to it.

Inventory data and collection profiles


IBM Systems Director uses inventory collection profiles to collect inventory data
from discovered resources.

After you collect inventory, you can view the inventory items, their attributes, and
the values of those attributes by using the Refresh View option. The inventory
items that are displayed include physical, logical, and virtual hardware; software
applications, operating systems, middleware, firmware, BIOS, and diagnostic
information; network information; and system-contained resources.

Inventory data comprises three parts: inventory item, inventory attribute, and
inventory value.
Inventory item
A distinct part of a resource that makes up the whole. The inventory item
might fall into the following categories: basic system information,
hardware inventory, or software inventory. For example, hardware
inventory might include a physical card as an inventory item.
Inventory attribute
The details about an inventory item, for example, the attributes for a
physical card might include the name, the date it was last changed, a
description, FRU number, manufacturer date, physical element
manufacturer, physical element model, physical element serial number, and
more.
Inventory value
The data associated with the inventory attribute, for example, the name of
a physical card, or the serial number of the physical card.

IBM Systems Director uses profiles to manage the inventory collection tasks that
you create and run. An inventory collection profile is a group of settings that are
saved on IBM Systems Director Server that indicate the type of resources collected
during the collection process. Using IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can
run an inventory collection profile on specific systems (targets), and you can
schedule a profile to run at specific times or in response to specific events.

194 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Inventory profiles make it possible to collect only a subset of all available
information, which reduces network traffic and speeds up collection.

By default, IBM Systems Director includes the following inventory collection


profiles:
All Inventory
This profile collects inventory from all resources and encompasses all the
other inventory collection profiles.

Note: The All Inventory profile is the one you must run if you intend to
use update manager.
Basic System Information
This profile collects inventory from system resources.
All Hardware Inventory
This profile collects inventory from physical and virtual devices.
All Software Inventory
This profile collects inventory from software resources.
Software Images Discovery
This profile collects inventory from software images.

These profiles are read-only. They cannot be deleted or edited. They can, however,
be copied. You can use the existing profiles to create your own profiles by using
the Create like option. Or you can create your own inventory collection profile
without any preconfigured settings by using the Create option.

Creating an inventory collection profile


Use the Create Inventory Profile wizard to create an inventory collection profile.

If you do not want to use any of the profiles that are shipped with IBM Systems
Director, you must create and configure a profile that meets your needs before
collecting or viewing inventory.

To create an inventory collection profile, perform the following steps:


1. Open the View and Collect Inventory page using either of these two methods:
v On the Welcome page, click View and collect inventory under Optional
tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click View and Collect Inventory.
The View and Collect Inventory page is displayed.
2. Click Manage Profiles. The Manage Inventory Profiles page is displayed,
listing the existing inventory collection profiles.
3. Click Create. The Create Inventory Profile wizard opens.
4. In the Profile Name field, type a descriptive name to identify the profile.
5. In the Profile Description field, optionally type a brief description for the
profile.
6. Click Next. The Inventory Selection page displays a hierarchical tree of the
types of resources for which IBM Systems Director can collect inventory.
7. Navigate to and select the group or resource type that you want to add.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 195


Note: You can add an entire group of resource types or you can select them
individually.
8. Click Add.
9. Continue adding resource types to the profile as needed.
10. Click Next. Either the Discovery Service page or the Options page is
displayed. If the Discovery Service page is displayed, proceed to the next step.
If the Options page is displayed, proceed to step 16.
11. Select the option that reflects your decision about whether you want to
configure the discovery services or have the system choose the services for
you, then click Next.
v If you select Let me manually configure the discovery services, the Module
Selection page is displayed. Proceed to the next step.
v If you select Let the system choose the discovery services, the Options
page is displayed. Proceed to step 16.
12. Select the discovery modules that you want to configure to discover
additional attributes on your resources.
13. Click Next. Pages for each of the discovery modules that you selected are
displayed.
14. Complete the pages for each discovery module.
15. Click Next. The Options page is displayed.
16. In the Timeout period field, type the number of minutes that you want to
allot before an inventory collection event terminates. From the Inventory
Collection Profile list, select the inventory collection profile that you want to
use. The timeout value indicates the length of time to wait for a response to
inventory collection communications that are sent to systems. If the timeout
value elapses before the response is received from the destination, no
inventory data is collected from that target.
17. In the Maximum simultaneous collections field, type the maximum number
of agents from which IBM Systems Director Server can simultaneously collect
inventory.

Note: To help reduce network traffic, specify the lowest possible number of
agents.
18. To instruct IBM Systems Director Server to automatically try again after failed
collection attempts, select Retry failed agents.
19. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
20. Click Finish.

After creating an inventory collection profile, you can run it from the View and
Collect Inventory page.

Managing inventory collection profiles


Use the Manage Inventory Profiles page to copy, edit, or delete inventory collection
profiles.

To copy, edit, or delete an inventory collection profile, the profile must already
exist. You can also use this page to create a new inventory collection profile that
you can then manage. See “Creating an inventory collection profile” for
instructions.

To copy, edit, or delete an inventory collection profile, complete the following


steps:

196 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. Open the View and Collect Inventory page using either of these two methods:
v On the Welcome page, click View and collect inventory under Optional
tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click View and Collect Inventory.
The View and Collect Inventory page is displayed.
2. Click Manage Profiles. The Manage Inventory Profiles page is displayed,
listing the existing inventory collection profiles.
3. On the Manage Inventory Profiles page, select one of the following actions.

Note: When working with inventory collection profiles, you can select one or
more profiles at a time. If you select multiple profiles, you have only the
options of running them or deleting them.
Table 20. Inventory collection profile actions
To do this task: Complete these steps:
Copy an existing inventory collection profile 1. Select the profile that you want to copy.
2. Click Create like. The Create Like
Inventory Profile wizard is displayed.
The profile name defaults to Copy of
(original profile name), but all the rest of
the fields are populated with the same
entries and selections as is in the original
profile.
3. Edit the profile properties as needed,
clicking Next to continue through the
wizard.
4. Click Finish. The new profile based on
the original profile will appear in the
table on the View and Collect Inventory
page.
Edit an existing inventory collection profile 1. Select the profile that you want to edit.
2. Click Edit. The Edit Inventory Profile
wizard is displayed.
3. Edit the profile properties as needed,
clicking Next to continue through the
wizard.
4. Click Finish.
Delete an existing inventory collection 1. Select the profile that you want to delete.
profile 2. Click Delete. A confirmation message is
displayed.
3. Click OK in the confirmation message
box. The selected profile is deleted and is
no longer displayed in the table on the
View and Collect Inventory page.
Note: Any scheduled event that uses a
deleted profile will continue to run until it
tries to run the deleted profile, at which
point the event will fail.

Collecting inventory
Use the View and Collect Inventory task to collect inventory data for systems that
have already been discovered and accessed by IBM Systems Director Server.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 197


Before you can view inventory for a resource, you must discover that resource
using System Discovery. Inventory collection uses inventory collection profiles. You
can use an existing profile to collect inventory for a system. If the inventory
collection profile does not exist for the type of inventory data you want to collect,
you must first create the inventory collection profile and make sure that it contains
the appropriate settings.

Note: Inventory is displayed for only those systems that are in a state other than
no access. To change the access state, select the system or systems and click
Actions > Security > Request Access.

To collect inventory for one or more systems, perform the following steps:
1. Open the View and Collect Inventory page using either of these two methods:
v On the Welcome page, click View and collect inventory under Optional
tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click View and Collect Inventory.
The View and Collect Inventory page is displayed.
2. In the Target Systems list, select the system for which you want to view or
collect inventory data. If the target system that you want to view is not in the
target systems list, perform the following steps to add the system to the list.
a. Click Browse to open the Context Chooser. The Context Chooser displays a
list of system groups.
b. In the list of groups, drill down to the individual target system for which
you want to view inventory data in the group that contains that target
system.

Note: You can select the entire group or you can drill down to select
individual target systems as targets within a group.
c. Select one or more target systems that you want to add.
d. Click Add. The selected target systems are displayed in the Selected list.
e. Click OK.
3. In the View by list, select the inventory profile that you want to use.
4. Click Collect Inventory. The Run - Collect Inventory page is displayed.
5. Use the Run - Collect Inventory page to set up optional functions and options
of your inventory collection task:
Schedule
Use the Schedule tab to set the inventory collection task to run
immediately or at a specified time and date in the future. You can also
schedule the task to repeat at a specified frequency.
Notification
Use the Notification tab to specify options for an email notification that
you can receive as the inventory collection process progresses.
Options
Use the Options tab to specify the time to use for the system time and
how to handle unavailable systems.
6. When you are finished with the Run - Collect Inventory page, click OK. An
inventory collection job is created and an informational message is displayed
about the job.

198 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: Click Display Properties if you want to view the properties of the job.
The Active and Scheduled Jobs page is displayed and provides information
about the job including status, progress, a list of targets, a history, and error
logs.

When inventory collection is completed, you can view the inventory data list and
table by clicking Refresh View.

Viewing inventory
Use the View and Collect Inventory task to view and manage an extended set of
resources and relationships for systems that have already been discovered. The
inventory that is displayed includes physical, logical, and virtual hardware;
software applications, operating systems, middleware, firmware, BIOS, and
diagnostic information; network information; and system-contained resources. Also,
IBM Systems Director displays the inventory data for the inventory items that are
collected.

Before you can view inventory data for a resource, you must collect the inventory
data for that resource.

Note: Inventory is displayed for only those systems that are in a state other than
no access. To change the access state, select the system or systems and click
Actions > Security > Request Access.

To display inventory data for a resource, complete the following steps:


1. Open the View and Collect Inventory page using either of these two methods:
v On the Welcome page, click View and collect inventory under Optional
tasks.
v In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand
Inventory and then click View and Collect Inventory.
The View and Collect Inventory page is displayed.
2. In the Target Systems list, select the system for which you want to view or
collect inventory data. If the target system that you want to view is not in the
target systems list, perform the following steps to add the system to the list.
a. Click Browse to open the Context Chooser. The Context Chooser displays a
list of system groups.
b. In the list of groups, drill down to the individual target system for which
you want to view inventory data in the group that contains that target
system.

Note: You can select the entire group or you can drill down to select
individual target systems as targets within a group.
c. Select one or more target systems that you want to add.
d. Click Add. The selected target systems are displayed in the Selected list.
e. Click OK.
3. In the View by list, select the inventory profile that you want to use.
4. Click Refresh View. The inventory data for the selected resource is displayed.

Note: If you click Refresh View before any inventory has been collected by IBM
Systems Director Server, an empty table is displayed and the Last collected
value will be none. Before you try to view inventory, make sure that you
discover the applicable resources and collect the inventory for them.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 199


Exporting inventory data
You can export collected inventory data to a file in comma-separated value (CSV),
HTML, or XML format.

Be sure to turn off the Web browser option to block pop-up windows for the URL
that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

Complete the following steps to export your collected inventory data:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Inventory > View and
Collect Inventory.
2. Make sure to collect and view the inventory data that you want to export. For
more information about collecting and viewing inventory data, see “Collecting
inventory” and “Viewing inventory”.
3. Click Export All. The browser either opens a file download window or it
displays the exported data.
4. Save the file.
v If the Web browser opens a file download window, save the file. If the Web
browser requires a location selection, provide it and click Save.
v If the Web browser displays the exported inventory data, from the File
menu, click Save As, navigate to the location where you want to save the
file, then click Save.

Note: You can save the file only to a file system that is accessible from the
system running IBM Systems Director Server.

Connecting to IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases


Connect to preexisting IT Registry and Context Menu Service centralized databases
to enable IBM Systems Director to accept external connections so that it can share
tasks and resources with external applications such as Tivoli products.

The IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases to which you will connect
must already exist.

Using the IT Registry and Context Menu Service Registration page in the IBM
Systems Director Web interface, you can register with either or both an IT Registry
or Context Menu Service database. After initial registration, if you want to remove
the capability of products to start IBM Systems Director tasks, you can unregister
to remove all connection settings and previously registered data for tasks and
resources for the currently connected IT Registry and Context Menu Service
databases. You can also register again to connect to different IT Registry and
Context Menu Service databases.
1. Set up the JDBC jars for the database that you are using.
a. Obtain the JDBC jars using one of the following two methods:
v Copy the JDBC jars from the installed instance of the database.
v Download the JDBC jars from the Web site for IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL
Server, or Oracle® Database.
b. Place the jars into the /lib directory of the appropriate plug-in for your
database:
v com.ibm.lwi.database.drivers.db2_8.1.0.0-LWI
v com.ibm.lwi.database.drivers.oracle_8.1.0.0-LWI
v com.ibm.lwi.database.drivers.sqlserver_8.1.0.0-LWI

200 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


The plug-ins are located under install_root/lwi/runtime/database/
eclipse/plugins, where install_root is the root directory of your IBM
Systems Director installation.
c. Open the MANIFEST.MF file in the META-INF directory of the plug-in and
ensure that the Bundle-Classpath entry in that file contains the exact name
of the JDBC jars placed in the /lib directory. If the Bundle-Classpath entry
is incorrect, edit MANIFEST.MF to include those jar names, then save the
changes.
2. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface, navigate to Settings -> IT Registry
and CMS Registration.
3. On the IT Registry and Context Menu Service Registration page, complete the
steps for the action that you want to take:
Register with IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases for the first
time Complete the following steps to register with IT Registry and Context
Menu Service databases for the first time.

Note: You must register an application on all servers that will use it.
a. Fill in all required fields with the connection settings for the IT
Registry database and the Context Menu Service database.
b. Click Test Connections to test if the connection settings that you
entered are valid. If the connection test fails, check your entered
values.
c. Click Register to apply the connection settings to register with the
targeted IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases.
Unregister with IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases
If you are already registered with IT Registry and Context Menu
Service databases but want to unregister, you only need to click
Unregister. This will remove all connection settings and previously
registered data for tasks and resources for the currently connected IT
Registry and Context Menu Service databases

Note: The fields will already contain the connection settings for the
connection databases with which you are already registered.
Register with different IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases
If you are already registered but want to change and connect to
different IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases, you can
register again using the values for the new databases. You do not need
to unregister with the initial IT Registry and Context Menu Service
databases before reregistering.
Complete the following steps to register with different IT Registry and
Context Menu Service databases.

Notes:
v The fields will already contain the connection settings for the
connection databases with which you are already registered.
v Reregistration will complete for both databases, regardless of
whether you changed values for either one.
a. Replace the contents of each applicable field with the connection
settings for the new IT Registry and Context Menu Service
databases.

Chapter 3. Discovering systems and collecting inventory data 201


b. Click Test Connections to test if the new connection settings that
you entered are valid. If the connection test fails, check your entered
values.
c. Click Register to apply the connection settings to register with the
new targeted IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases.

After IBM Systems Director registration is complete and the other product is also
enabled to use IT Registry and Context Menu Service, the IBM Systems Director
tasks will appear in the context menus of the other product and can be launched
by selecting that menu item.
Related reference

Installing the IBM DB2 Driver for JDBC and SQLJ

Oracle JDBC/UCP Download Page

Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver 2.0

External connections with IT Registry and Context Menu


Service databases
IT Registry and Context Menu Service are databases with which IBM Systems
Director can register so that it can accept external connections and therefore share
tasks and resources with external applications such as Tivoli products.

After IBM Systems Director registration is complete and the other product is also
enabled to use IT Registry and Context Menu Service, the IBM Systems Director
tasks will appear in the context menus of the other product and can be launched
by selecting that menu item.

IT Registry

When you register with the IT Registry, entries are added to the IT Registry
database for resources that IBM Systems Director has discovered.

Context Menu Service

The Context Menu Service, which is a component of the Tivoli Integrated Portal
(TIP), facilitates launch-in-context capability between products. The
launch-in-context capability enables one application to invoke a function or launch a
user interface that is provided by another application while also passing in data
that the function or user interface can immediately process. Context Menu Service
enables launch-in-context by allowing a product to register launch points for itself
and locate launch points for other products. Launch points provide information that
allows an application to invoke a function or user interface from another
application.

When you register with the Context Menu Service, entries are added to the
Context Menu Service database so that other programs can start IBM Systems
Director tasks outside of IBM Systems Director.

202 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Chapter 4. Configuring systems
Using IBM Systems Director configuration manager, you can configure both
hardware devices and systems so that they will work together and meet the needs
of your environment.

In order for your configuration settings to take affect, they must be deployed to the
appropriate managed resource (device or system). When you deploy a
configuration plan, the configuration settings contained in all templates contained
by the plan are applied to the resource. In Current Configuration, you can list
configuration settings for one resource, make some or no changes to the settings,
then deploy it to a different resource.

You must understand the following terms to effectively configure systems using
IBM Systems Director.
Configuration setting
Real-time values associated with a particular aspect of a system or device,
such as login information or SNMP options, which can be saved as a
configuration template or as a configuration plan.
You can save configuration settings from a system and convert them into
configuration templates or configuration plans. You also can create
configuration settings from scratch.
Configuration template
A version of configuration settings that are not on a given system, but are
stored for future deployment.
You can deploy a configuration template on a system even if it is not a
member of a configuration plan.
Configuration plan
A set of configuration templates used to configure a system.

Configuration settings
A particular system's configuration can be accessed and viewed. Changes can be
made if necessary, and the configuration setting for an individual resource can be
stored as a configuration template or as a configuration plan.

Configuration settings for a whole system can be stored as a set of configuration


templates, which can then be placed in a configuration plan.

All specific configuration settings are described in the documentation for their
specific devices. As an example, the configuration settings for IBM BladeCenter
and System x are described in the documentation for IBM BladeCenter and System
x. The configuration settings for storage devices are described in the IBM Systems
Director Storage Systems documentation.

Configuration templates
A configuration template is a stored version of device parameters and settings,
which can be reused or deployed at a later time.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 203


You can create, view, edit, delete, deploy, and schedule configuration templates to
be deployed on a target resource.

Target types

A target type is the type of system on which a configuration template is deployed.

A configuration template can have one of the following target types. However, the
listed types might vary, depending on the installed settings in your environment:
Appliance
BladeCenter chassis
BladeCenter H chassis
BladeCenter HT chassis
BladeCenter S chassis
BladeCenter T chassis
Ethernet Switch
Fibre Switch
InfiniBand Switch
Operating System
Operating System (via CIM protocol)
Server (via CIM protocol)
Stand alone server
Storage Switch

Tips:
v When you make changes to a configuration template that is already contained in
one or more configuration plans, the changes apply to these configuration plans.
v If you want to delete a configuration template that is contained in one or more
configuration plans, remove that configuration template from all associated
configuration plans first, and then delete the configuration template.
Note that you can delete a configuration template that is in one or more
configuration plan, but you will receive a warning message.
v When you create a configuration plan, you can determine the order of the
configuration templates within the configuration plan. This order is not checked
at creation time to determine whether certain resources require that other
resources be defined first.
If an inappropriate order is chosen, errors might be issued when the
configuration plan is deployed. When deploying a configuration plan, check the
status to determine whether it succeeded and analyze any errors received.
v You can automatically deploy certain types of templates. The order that they are
deployed in is specified in the automatic deploy sequence list for each template
type. This list can be modified at any time. Additionally, the list is modified
automatically when templates that specify automatic deployment are added (by
modifying the properties or creation of a new template), or deleted.

Note: You cannot automatically deploy network templates, and this extends to
the network plans that contain them.

204 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Predefined configuration template
IBM Systems Director provides a predefined configuration template to help you
quickly configure a BladeCenter chassis resource.

Do not delete or modify the predefined configuration template. To modify the


predefined configuration template, use the Create Like task to make a copy, and
then change the copy.

Configuration plans
A configuration plan is used to configure systems and resources. A configuration
plan is a group of configuration templates that are deployed in a sequence.

A configuration plan has a name, a description, a plan target type, an indicator of


automatic deployment status, plan creation information, and plan modification
information. A configuration plan contains one or more configuration templates.
The configuration templates in a configuration plan can be specified in an order,
and will be deployed in this order when the configuration plan is deployed.

Some configuration plans can be set up to be automatically deployed when a new


resource of that type is discovered. You can also specify the order in which the
configuration templates in a configuration plan are deployed, for situations in
which some resources must be defined before others.

Note: You cannot automatically deploy network templates, and this extends to the
network plans that contain them.

Types

A type is the category of resource associated with a configuration plan. These are
the types for a configuration plan. All configuration templates within a given
configuration plan must also be of the same type as the configuration plan.
Chassis
Devices such as management modules and switches
Network
Network components
Server Server components
Storage
Storage devices and other related resources
Operating System
Operating system components

The Automatically deploy feature


This feature is used to automatically deploy a configuration plan or configuration
template when system changes, such as the addition or removal of hardware, are
detected by IBM Systems Director.

Note: You cannot automatically deploy network templates, and this extends to the
network plans that contain them.
An entire configuration plan or individual configuration templates can be
designated as automatically deploy. If an entire configuration plan is designated as

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 205


automatically deploy, whenever IBM Systems Director detects a new system or
device of that type, this entire configuration plan is automatically deployed on that
system or device.

There can be only one active configuration plan designated as automatically


deploy for each configuration plan type at any given time.

For example, assume that configuration plan plan1 and configuration plan plan2
are of the same plan type. If plan1 is already set to automatically deploy, and you
then designate plan2 as automatically deploy, plan2 will become designated as
automatically deploy for this plan type, and plan1 will no longer be designated as
automatically deploy. A warning will be displayed in this situation.

For an individual configuration template, automatically deploy means that


whenever IBM Systems Director detects a new device of the configuration template
type, the configuration template is automatically deployed on that device.

In addition to automatic deployment for a new device that is added to a system,


automatic deployment can also take place if a device is changed or removed. In
this case, automatic deployment is dependent on the values in the configuration
template or configuration plan that have been designated for automatic
deployment.

Predefined configuration plans


IBM Systems Director provides a predefined configuration plan to facilitate
configuration of some of the most popular resources and systems.

Do not delete these predefined configuration plans. Do not edit or change them. To
modify them, use the Create Like task, make a copy, and then change the copy. Do
not delete or modify the predefined configuration templates within the predefined
configuration plans.

Chassis Predefined Plan


This predefined configuration plan is for an IBM BladeCenter Chassis. It has one
predefined configuration template named Boot Sequence Predefined Template. To
see all relevant attributes, view this configuration plan and configuration template
from the IBM Systems Director Configuration Manager Summary page.

Configuration-setting license entitlement


Some configuration settings might be associated with a license entitlement. In
order to use the setting, and therefore any template or plan that contains that
setting, the license must be valid, that is, not expired. Not only must a
configuration setting have a valid license, but some licenses also require a license
for the system for which the configuration setting is intended.

If a license is expired, you will be prevented from using the affected configuration
setting. If a license is required for systems, you can be prevented from using the
affected configuration settings on unlicensed systems. If you have an expired
license, the following items are subject to these restrictions:
v Current configuration settings that have a license entitlement
v Configuration templates that contain a license entitlement configuration setting
v Configuration plans including at least one template containing a license
entitlement configuration setting

206 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


If one of these items contains a license entitlement setting that has expired, the
item can be deleted. If you attempt to edit, deploy, or use the template in any way,
a message is displayed notifying you to purchase a license.

Monitoring the deployment of configuration plans and configuration


templates
To monitor when a configuration plan or configuration template is deployed, use
an event automation plan.

To create the event automation plan, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, click Create.
3. The Event Automation Plan wizard displays the Welcome page. Click Next.
4. On the Name and description page, type a descriptive name for the event
automation plan that you are creating. Optionally, you also can type a
description of the plan. Click Next.
5. On the Targets page, select the systems that you want the event automation
plan to monitor for the configuration manager events. Select the systems in
the Available table and click Add to move them to the Selected list. Click
Next.
6. On the Events page, select Advanced event filters from the Events list.
7. Click Create to create an event filter.
8. The Create Event Filter wizard displays the Welcome page. Click Next.
9. On the Filter Name page, type a descriptive name for the event filter that you
are creating. Optionally, you also can type a description of the filter. Click
Next.
10. On the Filter Type page, select Simple event filter from the Filter type list.
11. On the Event Type page, select Custom from the Types of events to include
list. The Available Event Types table is displayed.
12. In the Available Event Types table, click Systems Director Program > System
Configuration. The table displays the available configuration manager events.
13. Select the applicable configuration manager event:

Option Description
To monitor for the deployment of Click Configuration Template, then select
configuration templates Deployed.
To monitor for the deployment of Click Configuration Plan, then select
configuration plans Deployed.

14. On the Event Type page, click Next.


15. On each of the remaining pages of the Create Event Filter wizard, until the
Summary page displays, accept the default selection and click Next.
16. On the Summary page, verify that the information is correct and click Finish.
The Events page displays the new filter.
17. On the Events page, make sure that the new filter is selected, then click Next.
18. On the Event actions page, click Create.
19. In the Create Actions window, select an event action, for example, Send an
e-mail (Internet SMTP) .

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 207


20. Click OK.
21. Complete the fields for the event action that you selected. For some event
action types, you can include event-specific information as part of the text
message. Including event information is referred to as event-data substitution.
You can use event-data-substitution variables to customize event actions. For
more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
22. When you are satisfied with the settings, click OK.
23. On the Event Actions page, make sure that the new event action is selected,
then click Next.
24. On the Time range page, select the time over which you want to collect the
events. Select All the time (24 x 7) so that the plan is active all the time.
25. When you are satisfied with the specified time ranges, click Next.
26. On the Summary page, verify the details of the event automation plan. If you
want to change the settings, click Back.
27. When you are done editing the event automation plan, click Finish.

The Event Automation Plans page displays the new event automation plan.

Managing system configuration


Manage your system configuration by viewing and making updates to
configuration settings. These configuration setting can be stored into configuration
templates, which can be grouped into configuration plans.

Viewing configuration settings


The configuration settings for a particular system contain detailed information
about the system, such as definitions, options, and attached devices.

To view the configuration setting for a particular system, complete the following
steps:
1. From the Navigate Resources area, select a system.
2. Click Actions > Properties to view the current properties of the system:
v If the system has resources that can be configured by IBM Systems Director,
a Configuration tab will be present.
v If the system does not have resources that can be configured by IBM Systems
Director, there will be no Configuration tab. You cannot perform any of the
remaining steps in this procedure.
v The communication state such a: online or offline, and access state such as
locked or unlocked will also determine if the configuration tab is displayed
for a system.
3. Click Configuration to see the configuration settings for this system.

As an alternative, you can start this task from the navigator area by selecting
System Configuration > Current Configuration

Editing configuration settings


Edit the configuration setting for a particular system so that they remain current
and are kept up to date with hardware and software changes.
1. From the Navigate Resources area, select a system.
2. Click Actions > Properties to view the current properties of the system:

208 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v If the system has resources that can be configured by IBM Systems Director,
a Configuration tab will be present.
v If the system does not have resources that can be configured by IBM Systems
Director, there will be no Configuration tab. You cannot perform any of the
remaining steps in this procedure.
v The communication state such a: online or offline, and access state such as
locked or unlocked will also determine if the configuration tab is displayed
for a system.
3. Click Configuration to see the configuration settings for this system.
4. Select the configuration setting to be edited.
5. Click Edit. A page with the configuration setting information is displayed.
6. Make any necessary changes.
7. Click OK. The changes are applied, and you are returned to the list of
configuration settings for the system.
8. Click Close.

As an alternative, you can start this task from the navigator area by selecting
System Configuration > Current Configuration

Saving configuration settings as configuration templates


In order to have the configuration setting for a particular device applied to another
resource, possibly one located on another system, you must save the configuration
setting as a configuration template.

To save a configuration setting as a configuration template, complete the following


steps:
1. From the Navigate Resources section, select a system.
2. Click Actions > Properties to view the current properties of the system.
v If the system has resources that can be configured by IBM Systems Director,
a Configuration tab will be present.
v If the system does not have resources that can be configured by IBM
Systems Director, there will be no Configuration tab. You cannot perform
any of the remaining steps in this procedure.
v The communication state such a: online or offline, and access state such as
locked or unlocked will also determine if the configuration tab is displayed
for a system.
3. Click Configuration to see the configuration settings for this system.
4. Select the configuration setting to be saved as a configuration template.
5. Click Actions > Save as Configuration Template. The Save as Configuration
Template page is displayed.
6. Type a name for the new configuration template.
7. Type a description for the new configuration template.
8. Click Open configuration template list when finished saving if you want to
see the list of existing configuration templates while the save is taking place.
Although you will be taken to the Configuration template table, deploying
this newly-created configuration template from this table will require you to
select a target.
9. Optional: If you want to add the new configuration template to an existing
configuration plan of the same type, choose one from the list of configuration
plans. You are given the choice of configuration plans of the correct type.

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 209


10. Click Save. The Configuration Progress Indicator keeps you informed of the
progress of this task.

Saving configuration settings to a configuration plan


Use this procedure to save configuration settings to a configuration plan.

When you save configuration settings to a configuration plan, configuration


templates are created to contain the configuration settings. The configuration plan
that is produced is no different than one created starting with configuration
templates.

To save configuration settings to a configuration plan, complete the following


steps:
1. Click System Configuration > Current Configuration. A list of systems is
displayed.
2. Select a system.
3. Click Actions > View. A table of configuration settings for the chosen system is
displayed.
4. Select those configuration settings that you want saved to a configuration plan.
5. Click Save to Configuration Plan. The Save to Configuration Plan page is
displayed.
6. Choose the configuration plan for the configuration settings.
v Add selected configuration settings to an existing configuration plan. A list of
existing configuration plans is displayed. Choose one from this list.
v Add selected configuration settings to a new configuration plan. Type a
name and description for the new configuration plan.
7. Click Save.

The configuration settings added to the configuration plan might not be in the
order that you would want them to be deployed on a system. From any table that
displays the configuration plan, click Actions > Edit to change the order of the
configuration templates.

Managing configuration templates


You manage configuration templates by creating and updating them. They can be
deployed to a system, or grouped into configuration plans.

Creating configuration templates


Create a configuration template to hold specific user-defined settings for a
configuration which can then be applied to relevant managed endpoints.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To create a configuration template, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click Create a Configuration
Template. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create.
3. Choose a target type in the Template type field.
4. Choose a value in the Configuration to create a template.

210 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


5. Type a unique name for the new configuration template. The name must be
unique and have a maximum length of 100 characters. The name of the
configuration template cannot contain the following XML special characters:
v The ampersand character (&)
v The apostrophe or single quotation mark character (')
v The double quotation mark character (")
v The greater-than character (>)
v The less-than character (<)
v The vertical bar character (|)
v The back slash character (\)
v The slash character (/)
v The asterisk character (*)
v The colon character (:)
v The question mark character (?)
v The percent character (%)
6. Type a meaningful description for the new configuration template. The
maximum length is 500 characters. The description of the configuration
template cannot contain the following XML special characters:
v The ampersand character (&)
v The apostrophe or single quotation mark character (')
v The double quotation mark character (")
v The greater-than character (>)
v The less-than character (<)
7. Optional: If you want this configuration template to be run automatically
when a new device with a type that matches this configuration template is
added or removed, or when an event related to this type of device occurs,
select Automatically deploy this configuration template when notified of a
matching resource.

Note: You cannot automatically deploy network templates, and this extends
to the network plans that contain them.
If you enable automatic deploy, the template is appended to the end of the
automatic deploy sequence list for the relevant type. To re-order the list, go to
Actions > Automatic Deploy Sequence.
8. Click Continue. The Configuration Settings page is displayed.
9. Enter configuration information.
10. Click Save to create the new configuration template. The new configuration
template will be displayed in the configuration template table.

Creating a configuration template from an existing one


You can create a configuration template using an existing configuration template as
a model.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To create a configuration template from an existing one, complete the following


steps:

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 211


1. From the Configuration Manager Summary page, click Create a Configuration
Template. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Select one configuration template to use as a model for the creation a new one.
3. Click Actions > Create Like. Information from the selected configuration
template is placed in the panels that follow.
4. Type a unique name for the new configuration template. The name must be
unique and have a maximum length of 100 characters. The name of the
configuration template cannot contain the following XML special characters:
v The ampersand character (&)
v The apostrophe or single quotation mark character (')
v The double quotation mark character (")
v The greater-than character (>)
v The less-than character (<)
v The vertical bar character (|)
v The back slash character (\)
v The slash character (/)
v The asterisk character (*)
v The colon character (:)
v The question mark character (?)
v The percent character (%)
5. Type a meaningful description for the new configuration template. The
maximum length is 500 characters. The description of the configuration
template cannot contain the following XML special characters:
v The ampersand character (&)
v The apostrophe or single quotation mark character (')
v The double quotation mark character (")
v The greater-than character (>)
v The less-than character (<)
6. Optional: If you want this configuration template to be run automatically when
a new device with a type that matches this configuration template is added or
removed, or when an event related to this type of device occurs, ensure that
Automatically deploy this configuration template when notified of a
matching resource is selected.

Note: You cannot automatically deploy network templates, and this extends to
the network plans that contain them.
If you enable automatic deploy, the template is appended to the end of the
automatic deploy sequence list for the relevant type. To re-order the list, go to
Actions > Automatic Deploy Sequence.
7. Click Continue. The Configuration Settings page is displayed.
8. Enter configuration information. You cannot change the values in the Template
type and Configuration to create a template fields.
9. Click Save. The new configuration template is created, and will be displayed in
the configuration template table.

Viewing configuration templates


The properties of a configuration template include the name, a description, the
target type, automatic deployment status, and the dates and ID of users who
created and edited the configuration template.

212 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view a configuration template, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration templates page is displayed.
2. Select the configuration template you want to view.
3. Click Actions > Properties. A page containing the configuration template's
properties is displayed.
4. Click Cancel when you are finished viewing the information.

Editing configuration templates


Some attributes of a configuration template can be changed after it is created.

Using the edit function, you can change the settings that the configuration
template defines, whether the template is automatically deployed, and so on. You
cannot change the target type of the configuration template. Changing the settings
on a template will not modify anything that has already been deployed to a
system. It will only affect anything that is deployed using the template after it has
been modified.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To edit a configuration template, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Select a configuration template to edit.
3. Click Actions > Edit Template. The Configuration Settings page is displayed.
4. Make all necessary changes.

Note: You cannot use the Edit button to change the template-specific settings:
template name, description, or automatic deploy setting. To change
template-specific settings, follow these steps:
a. Click the name of the template in the Configuration Template table.
b. The template properties window opens. Click the Edit button at the bottom
of the page.
c. Change any settings as required in the Edit Properties window.
d. Click OK to accept your changes.
For a template that supports automatic deploy, if you enable that function, and
it was not already enabled, the template is appended to the automatic deploy
sequence list. If you disable that function and it was previously enabled, the
template is removed from the list. To re-order the list, go to Actions >
Automatic Deploy Sequence.

Note: You cannot automatically deploy network templates, and this extends to
the network plans that contain them.
5. Click Save. The changes will be applied to the configuration template.

Tip: You can select Actions > Properties to change other attributes of the
configuration template such as the name, description, and automatic deploy status.

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 213


Adding configuration templates to a configuration plan
When changes are made to your systems, it can be necessary to add new
configuration templates to a configuration plan.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To add a configuration template to a configuration plan, complete the following


steps:
1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Select one or more configuration templates to add to a configuration plan.
3. Click Actions > Add to Configuration Plan. The Add to Configuration Plan
pop-up is displayed.
4. Choose a configuration plan:
v Click Add selected templates to this plan to select an existing configuration
plan.
v Click Add selected template to a new plan and specify the appropriate
values to create a new configuration plan.
5. Optional: If you do not want to see the list of configuration plans when you are
finished, clear Open Configuration Plan list when done saving.
6. Click Save. The configuration template will be added to the configuration plan.

Deploying configuration templates


You can deploy a configuration template even without having the configuration
template as part of a configuration plan. However, if you want to deploy the
configuration templates in a particular order, create a configuration plan to specify
the configuration templates in the desired order.

Each configuration template has a target type. Each system has a set of resources.
When a configuration template is deployed to a system, the configuration template
is deployed only on those resources that are of the same type as the configuration
template.

To deploy a configuration template to a target resource, complete the following


steps:
1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Select a configuration template to deploy.
3. Click Actions > Deploy. The Deploy Configuration Templates Job page
opens.
4. Select a system from the Available list. Use the Add and Remove buttons to
move items between the Available list and the Selected list.
5. Select as many systems as you want, and review the Selected list to ensure
accuracy.
6. Optional: Use the Browse button if you need information about the systems in
order to make your choice.
7. Optional: Click the Schedule tab. The Schedule page is displayed.
8. Optional: Enter job information.
9. Choose Run Now or Schedule.

214 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


10. Click OK when ready to run.
11. A message at the top of the Configuration Templates page indicates if the
deploy task has completed or not. Click on Display Property to see the job
status.
12. Optional: In order to see the log information about the configuration template
deploy, complete these steps:
a. Click Display Property. The properties of the job are displayed.
b. Click the Active and Scheduled jobs tab. The Active and Scheduled jobs
page is displayed.
c. View the job status in the General task section.
d. Click the Logs tab. A table of job logs is displayed.
e. Select the configuration template deployment job, and right click on its
name, and select the Show logs option. A list of job logs is displayed.
f. In the Activations logs text box at the bottom of the screen, you can see
details about the deployment of the configuration template. If the
deployment has failed, the reason for the failure is displayed in the
Activation log.

Viewing deployed targets


You can view the devices and systems on which a configuration template has been
deployed, to determine where changes are required.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view the list of devices and systems on which a configuration template has
been deployed on, complete the following steps:
1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Select a configuration template.
3. Click Actions > View Deployed Targets. A list of devices and systems on
which the configuration template has been deployed is displayed.

Exporting a configuration template


A configuration template can be exported to an XML file on the local system.
Exporting is useful for moving a configuration template from one IBM Systems
Director system to another.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To export a configuration template, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration templates page is displayed.
2. Select the configuration template that you want to export. Only one
configuration template can be exported to any given file.
3. Click Actions > Export.
4. Type the name of the file to receive the exported data.
5. Click Save.

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 215


Importing a configuration template
An XML file containing a configuration template can be imported to your list of
configuration templates.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To import an XML file containing a configuration template, complete the following


steps:
1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration templates page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Import.
3. Select the XML file to be imported from the local system.
4. Click Open.
5. The information in the file is verified to ensure that it contains a valid
configuration template. If the configuration template is valid, it is added to the
Configuration templates page.

If there is already a configuration template with the same name as the one you are
trying to import, a message is displayed and the configuration template is not
imported. For the import to succeed, rename the existing configuration template.

If the configuration template being imported specifies <autoApply>true</


autoApply>, the template is appended to the end of the automatic deploy
sequence list for the relevant type after it is imported.

Deleting configuration templates


You can delete those configuration templates that are no longer needed in order to
save space and prevent them from being used.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To delete a configuration template, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Templates. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Select one or more configuration templates to delete.
3. Click Delete. A pop-up will prompt you to confirm the deletion.
4. Ensure that you have chosen the correct configuration templates to be deleted.
v Click OK to perform the delete.
v Click Cancel to cancel the delete.

If you delete a template that has automatic deploy enabled, it is removed from the
automatic deploy sequence list.

Managing configuration plans


A configuration plan is used to configure hardware and operating systems.
Manage configuration plans by creating and updating them. They can be deployed
to a live system or set to be automatically deployed when a new system of
matching type is added.

216 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Creating configuration plans
A configuration plan consists of a set of configuration templates. Configuration
plans can also be used to automate, to an extent, the configuration process.

If you have not already done so, create configuration templates before creating a
configuration plan. You can also create configuration templates based on a target
resource when a list of these resources is displayed.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To create a configuration plan, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click Create a Configuration
Plan. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Click Create. The Configuration Plan wizard starts.
3. Optional: Clear Show this Welcome page next time if you do not want to see
the Welcome page the next time that this wizard starts.
4. Read the text on this page and click Next. The Name and Type page is
displayed.
5. Type a unique name for the new configuration plan in the Name field.
6. Type a description for the configuration plan in the Description field.
7. Select a target type for the configuration plan. The configuration templates in
the configuration plan must all be the same type. Only one type can be
selected.
8. Check Automatically deploy to indicate that this configuration plan is
automatically deployed whenever IBM Systems Director detects a new
resource of the same type. Only one configuration plan of any given type can
be designated to automatically deploy at any given time. If there is already a
configuration plan designated to automatically deploy, that plan will no
longer have that capability; instead, the new configuration plan will
automatically deploy. A message is issued in this situation.

Note: Because network templates do not support automatic deployment, the


automatic deploy button it is not available for network plans.
9. Click Next. The Configuration Templates page is displayed. This page is used
to select configuration templates to add to the plan. You can also add new
configuration templates based on a target resource.
10. Choose how you want to customize the Available table contents:
v Click Show existing templates to fill the table with all the existing
configuration templates.
v Click Show templates based on a target to choose a target system. Its
configuration settings will fill the table.
Click Browse if you would like more details about the choice of systems.
If you select this option, you must click Refresh after selecting the target
system, in order to display the list of available configuration templates for
that system.
v You can effectively use both features by clicking Show existing templates,
selecting some configuration templates, and adding them to the Selected
table. You then click Show templates based on a target, select configuration
templates from a target system, and add them to the Selected table.

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 217


You cannot change the values associated with an individual configuration
template while you are using this wizard.
11. Select each configuration template to be included in the configuration plan.
12. Click Add to move the configuration template to the Selected table.
13. Optional: Click Remove to delete configuration templates selected in error.
14. Select the order in which the configuration templates are to be deployed on a
target system when the configuration plan is deployed:
a. Select each configuration template whose order is to be changed.
b. Click Move Up or Move Down to change the order of the configuration
templates.
c. When the order is correct, click Next.
The Summary page is displayed.
15. Examine the information on this page.
v If you want to change information, click Back to return to the previous
page.
v To return to a particular page to make corrections, click its entry in the
navigation pane.
v If all information on this page is correct, click Finish. The new
configuration plan will be created.
v To terminate the wizard without creating a new configuration plan, click
Cancel.

Creating a configuration plan from an existing one


An existing configuration plan can be used as a model for creating a new one.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To create a configuration plan with the same characteristics as an existing one,


complete the following steps. You can later edit this new configuration plan.
1. From the Configuration Manager Summary page, click Create a Configuration
Plan. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Select one configuration plan to use as a model for the new configuration plan.
3. Click Create Like. The new configuration plan is created and added to the list.
The new name is the selected configuration plan's name with the prefix Copy of
appended.
4. The Configuration Plan wizard starts. Make any necessary changes.
5. Change the name of the newly-created plan.

Deploying configuration plans


A configuration plan can be deployed on one or more systems.

Deploy a configuration plan on one or more systems from the Configuration Plan
page, or by using the automatically deploy feature. Configuration plans can also be
deployed using automation manager with an event action plan.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To deploy a configuration plan on a target system, complete the following steps:

218 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Plans. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Select the configuration plan.
3. Click Actions > Deploy. The Deploy Configuration Plans Job page is
displayed.
4. Select a system from the Available list. Use the Add and Remove buttons to
move items between the Available list and the Selected list.
5. Select as many systems as you want, and review the Selected list to ensure
accuracy.
6. Optional: Use the Browse button if you need information about the systems in
order to make your choice.
7. Click Next. The Schedule page is displayed.
8. Enter the job information.
9. Click OK when you are ready to run the job.
10. A message at the top of the Configuration Plans page indicates whether the
deploy task has completed. Click on Display Property to see the full status.
11. Optional: In order to see the log information about the deploy task, complete
these steps:
a. Click Display Property. The properties of the job are displayed.
b. Click the Active and Scheduled jobs tab. The Active and Scheduled jobs
page is displayed.
c. View the job status in the General task section.
d. Click the Logs tab. A table of job logs is displayed.
e. Select the configuration plan deployment job, and right click on its name.
f. Click Show logs. A list of job logs is displayed.
g. In the Activations logs text box at the bottom of the screen, you can see
details about the deployment of the configuration plan. If the deployment
has failed, the reason for the failure is displayed in the Activation log.

Viewing configuration plans


The properties of a configuration plan include the name, description, target type,
whether it can be automatically deployed, and dates and ID of users who created
and edited the configuration plan.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view a configuration plan, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Plans. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Select the configuration plan whose information you wish to view.
3. Click Actions > Properties. A page containing the configuration plan's
properties is displayed.
4. Click Cancel when you are finished viewing the information.

Viewing deployment history


Follow these steps to view a list of the attempts to deploy configuration plans and
templates to a system. This option is only available on the context menu for a
system that has been discovered and unlocked. If no templates or plans have been
deployed to the system, this list is empty.

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 219


Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”
1. From the Navigate Resources area, select a system that is not locked.
2. Click Actions > System Configuration > Deployment History. The
Deployment History page is displayed.
3. View the Type column to determine whether the attempt was an attempt to
deploy a configuration plan or an attempt to deploy a configuration template.
4. A list of the attempts to deploy a configuration plan or a configuration
template to the system is displayed. The date and time of the attempt, and the
status of the attempt, are also displayed. The most recent attempt is listed first.
5. When done, click Close.

Editing configuration plans


The attributes of a configuration plan can be changed after it is created.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To edit a configuration plan, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Plans. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Select the configuration plan to be edited.
3. Click Actions > Edit. The Configuration Plan wizard starts, using the existing
information about the configuration plan.
4. Proceed through the wizard making any necessary changes. This process is the
same as if you were creating a new configuration plan, except that you cannot
change the plan type.

Exporting a configuration plan


A configuration plan can be exported to an XML file on the local system. This is
useful to move a configuration plan from one IBM Systems Director system to
another.

Exporting a configuration plan will not export the contained configuration


templates. Only the names of the contained configuration templates will be listed
in the exported configuration plan. You will have to export the configuration
templates separately.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To export a configuration plan, complete the following steps:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Plans. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Select the configuration plan that you want to export. Only one configuration
plan can be exported to any given file.
3. Click Actions > Export.
4. Type the name of the file to receive the exported data.
5. Click Save.

220 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Importing a configuration plan
An XML file containing a configuration plan can be imported to your list of
configuration plans.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To import and XML file containing a configuration plan, complete the following
steps:
1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Plans. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Import.
3. Select the XML file to be imported from the local system.
4. Click Open.
5. The information in the file is verified to ensure that it contains a valid
configuration plan. If so, it is added to the configuration plans page.

If there is already a configuration plan with the same name as the one that you are
trying to import, a message is displayed and the configuration plan is not
imported. You are advised to rename the existing one in order for the import to
succeed.

The import of a configuration plan will not create the configuration templates
listed in the configuration plan file. The configuration plan import assumes that
the configuration templates listed in the plan are already present on the target
system. If a configuration template that is listed in the configuration plan file exists
in the database, it will be associated to the imported configuration plan.

Deleting configuration plans


You can delete those configuration plans that are no longer needed, in order to
save space and prevent them from being used.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

Complete the following steps to delete a configuration plan:


1. From the Configuration manager summary page, click View Configuration
Plans. The Configuration plans page is displayed.
2. Select the configuration plans to be deleted.
3. Click Delete. A confirmation panel is displayed.
4. Ensure that you have chosen the correct configuration plans to be deleted.
v Click OK to perform the delete.
v Click Cancel to cancel the delete.

Deleting a configuration plan does not delete the configuration templates that are
included in that configuration plan.

Chapter 4. Configuring systems 221


222 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health
IBM Systems Director provides a set of tools that you can use to monitor and
manage the status and health of resources in your environment from a single
interface.
Related reference

System status and health troubleshooting

System status and health


IBM Systems Director automatically retrieves and displays the status of systems
that have been discovered. You can display this information using one of the
System Status and Health tasks, by navigating to a specific resource in IBM
Systems Director, or by using the command-line interface.

Before you can view the status of any resources, IBM Systems Director must first
discover and be able to access those resources. After a system has been discovered,
IBM Systems Director automatically monitors the system and its resources.

IBM Systems Director provides several tools and views to monitor and manage the
resources within your environment. Use the following System Status and Health
tasks to view the system's status:
Performance Summary
The Performance Summary task provides tools that enable you to select a
variety of monitors with which you can examine the servers, virtual
servers, or operating systems that you have discovered. Use this page to
dynamically view, monitor, and work with processor pools, memory pools,
networks, and other critical areas of your environment.
Health Summary
The Health Summary task displays several resource-monitoring tools on a
single page. Together, these tools provide a single, consolidated interface
with which you can quickly view the status of important areas of your
environment, monitor critical resources, and view the contents of
user-defined health summary groups.
Monitors
The Monitors task provides the tools that you need to retrieve real-time
status and quantitative data for specific properties and attributes of
resources in your environment. You can also set thresholds for the
monitors, graph the data that monitors retrieve, and drill down to quickly
view the status of resources for each system and the name of the monitor
so that you can view its properties.
Thresholds
The Thresholds task offers a consolidated view of all the thresholds that
you have created to monitor the dynamic properties of your resource. This
task saves you from searching for them all in the Monitors task.
Problems
The Problems task lists only those elevated status set entries that are
problem status set entries that have been reported to IBM Systems Director
Server. Note that the data listed here is a subset of what is listed on the

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 223


Active Status page. From the Problems page, you can navigate to, display,
and manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent
IBM Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to
remove them from the list until they occur again.
Active Status
The Active Status task lists all of the status set entries, including problems
and compliance issues, that have been reported to IBM Systems Director
Server. From the Active Status page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to
remove them from the list until they occur again.
Event Log
An event is an occurrence of significance to a task or resource. Examples of
events include the completion of an operation, the failure of a hardware
component, or the exceedance of a processor threshold. The Event Log task
displays all events that the management server receives from any resource
to which you have authority to view events.
SNMP Browser
The SNMP Browser task enables you to display, inspect, and perform
certain actions on SNMP-compliant resources, including selecting the
targets on which an SNMP job will run.

The status of an entire system reflects the status of the component on the system
that has the most severe status. For example, if a component within a system has a
status of critical, the entire system will have a status of critical, even if the critically
impacted component is not critical to the system.

The System Status and Health tasks simplify your work as a system administrator
by providing consolidated views of the health and status of your entire
environment. Specifically, the Health Summary task displays information about the
resources that IBM Systems Director has discovered. You can customize the content
that is displayed on the System Status and Health pages with information that is
specific to your business processes and organizational structure. In addition, you
can view detailed real-time data by adding monitors to the dashboard.

Use the System Status and Health tasks to perform the following functions:
v Determine the health and performance of resources in your environment.
v Identify the causes behind changes in the health of a resource.
v Display charts that indicate real-time usage data for resources.
v Set thresholds to quickly determine whether the resources are in an abnormal
state.
v Run tasks on resources in response to status changes or system management
needs.
v Take action to resolve issues for resources.
v Launch the event log viewer.

The approach you use to manage resources depends on how you prefer to view
them and what you are looking for when checking their statuses. Examples of
approaches that you can use for different situations are as follows:
v After connecting a new hardware device to your network, you might want to
check the status of the hardware. Rather than navigate to the Health Summary

224 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


page, you can drill down from the Navigate Resources page and navigate
directly to the new hardware to view its status.
v If there is a problem with your network and you do not know the resource that
is causing the problem, it might be quickest to navigate to the Health Summary
page to identify the problem areas and drill down to the resources that are
causing the problem.

Viewing the status manager summary


You can view a summary of the current activity that is associated with status,
including the status of the systems in your environment, the number of recordings
and thresholds, and detailed status. The information on the summary page
refreshes automatically when there are any changes.

To view the status manager summary, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. A list of available summary pages
is displayed.
3. On the Manage tab, scroll to the Status manager section heading and click it.
The status manager summary is displayed.
4. View the Status section. This section provides the following information:
There are four status categories, represented by icons:
v A pie chart and corresponding list that indicates the number of systems that
fall into each of the following four status categories:

Critical

Warning

Informational

OK

Click any of the category list items to see a breakdown of the systems in that
category.
v In the Status tasks area, the following links are provided:
Health summary
Use the Health Summary page to quickly view the status of
important areas of your environment, monitor critical resources, and
view the contents of user-defined health summary groups.
View problems
Use the Problems page to view the elevated status for categories that
are part of the problems composite category and ignore or delete the
entries. The problems composite category includes all categories,
such as hardware status and threshold status, except compliance.
View active and ignored status
Use the Active Status page to view all status set entries for resources
in your environment and ignore or delete the entries.
Groups by status
Use the Groups by status page to view a list of groups that represent
resources grouped by status.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 225


5. View the Management section. This section provides the following information:
v The number of thresholds that are active and not active. Click the link to
view the Thresholds page
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
Monitors
Use the Monitors page to create and work with monitors.
Thresholds
Use the Thresholds page to work with thresholds.
Event log
Use the Event Log page to view events according to filters that you
select.

Viewing the performance summary


Use the Performance Summary task to examine performance information produced
by using monitors that you select for the resources that you specify.

Selecting the target resources and the monitor view populates the Performance
Summary table. The entry for each row is generated by your choice of target
resource. The monitor view that you choose determines the available columns.

The Performance Summary page displays multiple pages. Which pages display
depends on your IBM Systems Director installation. A base installation displays at
least a Processor page and a Memory page.

To view performance information for a target resource, complete the following


steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health, then click Performance Summary.
2. Specify the target resources and monitor view that you want to use to generate
and examine the performance information:
a. Select one or more servers, virtual servers, or operating systems. Click
Browse if you want to search for a resource.
b. Select a monitor view that you want to set for the specified targets. Click
Browse if you want to select the monitor from the full list of available
monitors.
The Performance Summary table is created and populated with the targets that
you specified.
3. Specify the type of performance information that you want to display in each
column.
a. Click Select Column Monitors
b. In the Columns window, select one or more entries from the Available
Columns list, then click Add to move them to the Selected Columns list.
c. If you want, select one or more entries from the Selected Columns list, then
click Remove to remove them from the list.
d. Click OK to save your changes.
The updated table displays performance data in the columns that you specified.
4. One way to work with the table entries is to right-click a target, then select
Column Monitors to choose a monitor that you want to use.
5. Select the performance data that you want to examine, then select how you
want to interact with the data:

226 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


a. Select Activate Threshold to display the Threshold page, where you specify
how to activate the threshold.
b. Select Graph to display the Graph page, where you can view a graphical
rendering of the data.
c. Select Add To Dashboard to add a graphical rendering of the data to your
dashboard. Specify a name for the monitor view and select the type of
graph that you want to display.
Related concepts
“Dashboard” on page 229
Related tasks
“Managing monitors” on page 256
“Activating a threshold” on page 261
Related reference
“Virtualization Monitors view” on page 251

Using the Health Summary task to view the status of your environment
The Health Summary task displays several resource-monitoring tools on a single
page. Together, these tools provide a single, consolidated interface with which you
can quickly view the status of important areas of your environment, monitor
critical resources, and view the contents of user-defined health summary groups.

Before you can view the status of any resources, IBM Systems Director must first
discover and be able to access those resources.

IBM Systems Director provides multiple ways to check the status of a specific
resource in your environment. Use the Health Summary page to see a consolidated
view of the health and status of your system resources, storage resources, and
thresholds. These indicators help to identify areas within your environment that
might have problems or issues that you need to resolve. You can view the status of
several resources and quickly view details for those resources that are causing a
problem.

The Health Summary page contains the following sections:


v Scoreboard
v Dashboard
v Health Summary
By displaying a consolidated view of the health of your systems, storage resources,
and thresholds, these panels provide the information and tools that you can use to
monitor and manage systems and resources across multiple platforms from a
single interface.

Note: You are not required to first collect inventory for a resource for it to be
displayed on the Health Summary page.

The health summary task provides the following functions:


v Retrieves and displays the status and health of resources that you specify.
v Displays charts that indicate real-time data for resources and thresholds.

To view the status and health of your environment resources from the centralized
location of the Health Summary page, complete the following steps:

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 227


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Health Summary. The Health Summary page,
including the scoreboard, dashboard, and health summary sections, displays
the status and health of your environment.
2. Choose an item and drill down to view its details.

Scoreboard
The scoreboard displays a table in which each row represents an area or category
of information. Each element of the table, including column headers, row headers,
and cell data, is potentially clickable and displays specific data. Each column
header in the scoreboard identifies a severity status associated with the
corresponding categories. At the intersection of each row and column is a number
that represents the number of resources that adhere to the conditions of both the
row and the column that intersect. Each resource is counted only once, regardless
of the number of issues it has. Clicking the number displays the resources. Only
the systems to which you have access are displayed on the scoreboard. Before you
can view the status of any resources, IBM Systems Director must first discover and
be able to access those resources.

The scoreboard displays the status of important areas of your environment using
three severity levels; critical, warning, and informational. A system that reports
multiple severities is always grouped under the highest severity. For example, if a
system has both critical and warning events, it is shown under critical and is not
listed under warning. From the totals, icons, and category names in the scoreboard,
you can drill down to view various details about the systems that are reporting
system health and performance issues.

In order for IBM Systems Director to monitor the vital signs related to the health
and performance of a target system, the target system must have Common Agent
or Platform Agent installed on it. Agentless managed systems are also counted if
they are configured to report performance issues and if they have one of the
following protocols installed:
v Secure shell (ssh)
v Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), an extension of the Microsoft
Component Object Model (COM) to support objects distributed across a
network.
v Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
Examples of agentless-managed systems are management modules and Remote
Supervisor Adapters (RSAs).

By default, IBM Systems Director counts and displays the totals for the following
status categories:
Compliance
Identifies software-update and compliance-related status issues. The
compliance status category is populated only when a compliance policy is
re-validated due to a variety of different events.
Problems
Includes all types of issues including hardware, software, inventory, and
power-related status issues.

228 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Dashboard
The Dashboard section of the Health Summary page displays a real-time, graphical
representation of resource status based on the measurable properties for the
resource that you have set. You can display this data in a variety of formats to help
monitor resources. Use the Monitors task to add items to the dashboard.

To display information in the dashboard, you must first set up and configure the
monitors to indicate the information that you want retrieved. By default, the
dashboard is initially empty. To add charts to the dashboard, you must use the
Monitors task to display existing monitors and target systems. From the Monitors
page, you can find the appropriate monitors and then add them to the dashboard.

You can add only one monitor to the dashboard for each graph. Additionally, you
can add only bar and line graphs for group monitor thumbnails in the dashboard.

Health summary
The Health Summary section of the Health Summary page displays selected
resources that you have chosen to watch closely. With this section, you can quickly
view and monitor the resources that are most important to you. You can perform
actions on a resource by using the Actions menu. You can also drill down to
display the properties and other details for each resource. To display information
in the health summary, you must first set up and configure the groups that you
want to display.

To view the health summary, expand System Status and Health in the IBM
Systems Director Web interface navigation pane and click Health Summary. The
scoreboard, dashboard, and health summary display the status and health of your
environment.

The Favorites group and the Systems with Problems group both appear in the
health summary by default. You can add or remove groups of resources from the
health summary. You can also create new health summary groups.

After you have discovered applicable resources, use the Health Summary Group
Editor wizard to add the most important or critical systems in your environment to
a health summary group. After a health summary group has been created, you can
add the group to the health summary.

Using the scoreboard to identify issues


From the Health Summary page, you can select items in the scoreboard and drill
down to details that help locate and identify issues within your environment.

The scoreboard counts and then displays only those systems that have been
discovered and are accessible, and have reached a critical, warning, or
informational level. Before you can view the status of any resources, IBM Systems
Director must first discover and be able to access those resources.

The scoreboard is a table that comprises columns, rows, and individual totals in
cells. You can drill down from the icons (column headers), category names (row
headers), or totals (in the cells) to view various details about the systems that are
reporting system health and performance issues.
Totals If you click a totals number in the scoreboard, you are presented with a list
of entries that contains the number of systems in the list equal to the
number on which you clicked. For example, if two systems in your

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 229


environment have a combined total of five critical problems, the number 2
is displayed in the scoreboard to represent those two systems. When you
click the 2, you see all five critical problems.
Icons When there is a number in the scoreboard, the severity icon above that
number becomes a clickable link. When selected, the link displays all the
entries with that severity from every category. For example, if two systems
in your environment have five critical problems and three critical
compliance issues between them, the number 2 is displayed under the
Critical icon for the Problems category and the number 2 is displayed
under the Critical icon for the Compliance category. The Critical icon at the
top of the scoreboard is enabled. If you click the Critical icon, you are
presented with a list of eight items: five critical problems and three critical
updates.
Categories
When there is a number in the scoreboard for a category, that category
name in the scoreboard becomes a clickable link. When selected, the link
brings up all the entries for all severities for that category. For example, if
two systems have five critical problems, four other systems have a total of
four warning problems, and one other system has one informational
problem, then there are three numbers in the scoreboard for the Problems
category: 2, 4, and 1, which represent numbers of systems with each type
of problem. When you click the Problems category, you see a list of ten
items, which are all the problems across all the systems.

Note: If there are no resources with a particular status for a category, the
intersecting cell will display a hyphen (-) instead of a number.

To use the scoreboard to identify problems, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Health Summary. The scoreboard, dashboard, and
health summary display the status and health of your environment.
2. In the scoreboard, select one of the following filtering methods:

230 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 21. Filtering methods
To do this task: Complete these steps:
Filter based on severity status In the scoreboard, click the icon for one of
the following severity status values:
Critical A system that has generated an
event with a severity of 0 or 1 is
the most severe and is identified in
IBM Systems Director as being in a
critical state. These systems have
already lost or will imminently lose
data, have had system downtime,
or are on the verge of losing some
other services. Leaving the problem
uncorrected might have an impact
on system operation.
Warning
A system that has generated an
event with a severity of 2 or 3 is
identified in IBM Systems Director
as being in a warning state. These
systems can escalate to a critical
state if left uncorrected. Leaving the
problem uncorrected might not
have an impact on system
operation, so normal use of the
system can probably continue.
Informational
A system that has generated an
event with a severity of 4 is
identified in IBM Systems Director
as being in an informational state.
These systems are operating
normally and typically, so no action
is required.
Note: A system that has generated an event
with a severity of 5 is in an unknown state.
The unknown state is not included in most
IBM Systems Director tasks.

The resources with the selected severity


level are displayed in the Navigate
Resources table.
Filter based on type of issue In the scoreboard, click one of the listed
categories. The resources with the selected
issue type are displayed in the Navigate
Resources table.
Filter based on both status and issue Click the number in the scoreboard that
corresponds to the severity level and the
type of issue that you want to be displayed.
For example, if two systems have critical
problems, the number 2 would be displayed
under the critical icon on the Problems
category. If you click that number, those
resources with a critical severity level for the
problems type of issue are displayed.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 231


3. Navigate to the resource that you want to view and click it to view its
subsystems or related resources. The number of pages and the types of
information that these subsystems or related resources include vary depending
on the resource.
4. Click through the pages until you find the resource that has caused the
problem.

Adding a graphical monitor to the dashboard


Monitors are dynamic in nature and can be easily monitored graphically by
configuring IBM Systems Director to display the information. When you select
Add to Dashboard for an individual monitor on the Monitors page, a graphical
representation of that monitor is added to the dashboard.

Before you can display any graphical monitors on the dashboard, IBM Systems
Director must first discover the systems that you want to monitor. After you have
discovered the applicable systems, you can add them to a group. You can then add
individual monitors to the dashboard.

To configure the dashboard to display the monitors you want, complete the
following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Health Summary.
2. In the dashboard, click Show Monitors. The Monitors page is displayed.
3. To select one or more target resources, click Browse. The Context Chooser is
displayed.
4. Use the Context Chooser to add one or more resources or groups of resources
as a target:
a. To add a group, select the group that you want to add as a target. To add a
single resource, drill down from the group that includes the resource that
you want to add and select the resource.
b. Click Add.
c. Continue selecting groups or resources as needed.
d. When you are finished adding targets, click OK.
5. From the Monitor selection page, select the monitor view that you want to be
displayed for the targets that you selected.
6. Click Show Monitors. The Monitor View page listing monitors for the targets
that you selected is displayed.
7. Right-click the monitor that you want to be displayed on the dashboard and
select Add to dashboard.

After adding a monitor to the health summary, navigate to the Health Summary
page to verify that the monitor is displayed in the dashboard.

Removing a graphical monitor from the dashboard


From the Health Summary page, you can remove charts from the dashboard.

To remove a chart from the dashboard, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Health Summary.
2. In the dashboard, right-click the title of the chart that you want to remove and
click Remove.

232 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Adding systems to the health summary
The health summary displays selected systems that you have chosen to watch
closely. Use this panel to quickly view and monitor the systems that are most
important to you.

By default, the health summary displays the status of systems that belong to the
health summary favorites group and the Systems with Problems group. To add
additional systems to the health summary, choose one of the following methods:
v Add additional systems to the health summary favorites group.
v Add additional systems to another group and add that group to the health
summary using either the Navigate Resources task or the Actions menu in the
health summary.

Using the health summary favorites group to add and remove


systems in the health summary
Use the Health Summary task to add and remove systems in the favorites group
and display them in the health summary.

Before you can add or remove a system from the health summary favorites group,
IBM Systems Director must discover that system.

By default, the health summary displays the status of systems that belong to the
health summary favorites group.

Note: The health summary also displays the Systems with Problems group by
default.
To add or remove systems in the health summary favorites group to be displayed
in the health summary, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Health Summary. The scoreboard, dashboard,
and health summary display the status and health of your environment.
2. In the health summary, right-click Favorites and select Edit. The Group Editor
Wizard opens and the Welcome page is displayed.
3. Click Next. The Name page is displayed and the Name and Description fields
are filled out for your favorites group.
4. Leave the Name and Description fields as they are and click Next. The Type
page is displayed. You cannot change any values on this page.
5. Click Next. The Define page is displayed.
6. To add systems to the group, select the systems or criteria in the list on the
left and click Add.
7. To remove systems from the group, select the systems or criteria in the list on
the right and click Remove.
8. Continue modifying resources or criteria as needed.
9. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
10. Click Finish.

Using the Actions menu to add systems to the health summary


Use the Actions menu on the health summary to add any group to the health
summary.

To add a group to the health summary using the Actions menu on the health
summary, complete the following steps:

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 233


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Health Summary. The scoreboard, dashboard,
and health summary display the status and health of your environment.
2. In the health summary, click Actions > Edit. The Group Editor wizard opens.
3. In the Name field, type a descriptive name of the health summary group that
you want to create.
4. In the Description field, type a brief description for the group.
5. Click Next. The Type page is displayed.
6. In the Type list, select one of the following options:
Static Static groups contain a specified list of systems. The members of a
static group are fixed unless you change them.
Dynamic
Dynamic groups are based on specified system criteria. IBM Systems
Director will prompt you to specify the criteria that the system
attributes and properties must match. Then, when a system's
attributes or properties change, its match to the group criteria changes
and IBM Systems Director automatically adds or removes the system
to or from the group.
7. In the Member list, select the type of members to add to the group.
8. Click Next.
9. In the left area, select the resources or criteria to use for the group, and click
Add.
10. Continue adding resources or criteria as needed.
11. Click Finish.

After adding a group to the health summary, navigate to the Health Summary
page to verify that the group is displayed. You can configure the columns that are
displayed in the health summary to make it easy to quickly identify the status of
the resources that you are monitoring. As a best practice, ensure that the columns
that are related to health and status are always displayed in the health summary.

Using Navigate Resources to add systems to the health


summary
Use the Navigate Resources task to select the resource groups that you want to be
displayed on the health summary.

To add a resource group to the health summary using the Navigate Resources task,
complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the group that you want to add to the health summary.

Note: If the group that you want to add does not exist, create it.
3. From the Navigate Resources table, right-click the group that you want to add
to the Health Summary page and select Add to > Health Summary. The
Navigate Resources table is displayed.

Note: If you right-click a system instead of a group, you can add that system
to either the Favorites group or another group of your choosing. Adding the
system to the favorites group will automatically add it to the health summary.

234 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


However, if you add the system to another group of your choosing, ensure that
that group is added to the health summary if you want the system to appear
there.

After adding a group to the health summary, navigate to the Health Summary
page to verify that the group is displayed.

Removing a group from the health summary


The health summary displays the status of systems that belong to the health
summary favorites group and other groups that you have added to it. You can use
the Health Summary task to remove a group from the health summary.

To remove a group from the health summary, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Health Summary. The scoreboard, dashboard, and
health summary display the status and health of your environment.
2. In the health summary, right-click the group that you want to remove and click
Remove. A confirmation message is displayed.
3. Click Remove. The group is removed.

Using Navigate Resources to view the status of a specific resource


Use Navigate Resources when you want to view the status of only one resource
and you know exactly which resource it is. Using the Navigate Resources task, you
can navigate to a specific resource and drill down to view detailed status
information.

Before you can view the status of any resources, IBM Systems Director must first
discover and be able to access those resources.

To view the status of a specific resource using the Navigate Resources task,
complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation pane, click Navigate
Resources.

Note: If you know the name of the resource that you want to view, use the
Find a Resource task to navigate to it even more quickly.
2. In the Groups column, click the type of resource that you want to find.
3. Click the name of the resource you want to view. The table displays the state,
problems, and compliance status of the resource.

Scenarios: Using custom monitor views, thresholds, and event


automation plans
These example scenarios illustrate ways to use monitors, thresholds, and event
automation plans to report when important or critical disk drive conditions occur.
Each scenario creates a custom a monitor view, activates thresholds for the
monitors in the view, and uses the view and thresholds in an event automation
plan. When reported by the automation plan, the results from each example
indicate the affected disk drives by the letter name given to them on the system.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 235


The scenarios do not specify which action the automation plan automatically
performs, but possible actions include notifying an administrator by phone or
email or running a remote command to correct the reported condition.

Scenario: Using a custom monitor view in an event


automation plan to report disk data by using drive letter
names
This example scenario describes how to create a monitor view and use that
monitor view in an event automation plan. The scenario assumes that you want to
create an event automation plan that monitors the percentage of disk drive space
used by specific disk drives. Additionally, the event automation plan must report
information about the disk drives by using the letter names given to the drives on
the system.

All tasks for this scenario occur within the IBM Systems Director Web interface, so
the scenario assumes some familiarity with browsing the interface and using it to
perform tasks. Also, each of the following steps describes only one way to perform
the action, even if an alternative method exists.

For this scenario, the letter names for the disk drives to monitor are drive c, drive
d, and drive e.

To create a custom monitor view for disk drives and use it within an event
automation plan, perform the following steps:
1. Select the resources that you want to monitor:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Drill down to select the resources that you want to monitor, and select
them.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors. If System Status
and Health > Monitors is not a choice available to you, one or more of the
resources you selected are not eligible for monitoring. Make sure to select
only resources that can be monitored.
The Monitors task is displayed with the systems that you specified in step 1b
already selected.
2. Start creating a monitor view by clicking Actions > Create. The Create View
page is displayed.
3. On the Create View page, in the Name field, type a name for the monitor
group that you are creating.
4. From the Show list, select Selected Resources.
5. Select the monitors for the individual disk drives that you want to monitor:
a. In the Selected Resources table, select SystemName > Director Agent >
Disk Monitors, where SystemName is the name of the system that contains
disk drives that you want to monitor. Monitor information for the disk
drives is displayed.
b. In the Selected Resources table, select the monitors that you want to
include in this monitor group. For example, select Drive C: % Space Used,
Drive D: % Space Used, and Drive E: % Space Used.
c. After selecting the monitors, click Add to add them to the monitor group,
then click OK.

236 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: If you want to monitor drives on more than one system, for each system
that contains drives that you want to monitor, repeat step 5a on page 236
through step 5c on page 236.
The Monitors page is displayed, and the Monitor Views table includes the
monitor view that you created.
6. Click the name of the monitor view that you created. The Monitor View page is
displayed.
7. Activate thresholds for the monitors. For each monitor for which you want to
create a threshold, perform the following actions:
a. Right-click the name of the monitor, then select Activate Threshold. The
Threshold page is displayed.
a. On the Threshold page, specify the threshold values and options that you
want to use, then click OK. The Monitor View page is displayed, and the
table shows that the new thresholds are active.
8. Create an event filter to be activated by the thresholds that you created
previously:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click
Automation > Event Filters. The Event Filters page is displayed.
b. Click Create to create the filter. The Create Event Filter wizard is displayed.
c. On the Welcome page, click Next. The Filter Name page is displayed.
d. On the Filter Name page, type the name you want to give this event filter,
then click Next. The Filter Type page is displayed.
e. On the Filter Type page, select a filter type of Threshold event filter, then
click Next. The Event Type page is displayed.
f. On the Event Type page, select an event type of Custom. This scenario
assumes that the event filter does not include IBM i message queue events.
g. In the Event Types table, click Director > Director Agent (Component
Category) > Disk Monitors. The Event Types table displays the disk drive
event types.
h. Click the appropriate disk drive event component category, for example,
Drive C: % Space Used (Component Category). The Event Types table
displays thresholds for the specified disk drive.
i. Select the thresholds that you want to activate the event filter, click Add.
j. After you add all the necessary thresholds, click Next.
k. On all subsequent pages (until the Summary page is displayed), accept the
default values or specify the values that you want to use, then click Next.
l. On the Summary page, review the settings for the event filter. Click Back if
you want to change any settings. When you are satisfied with the settings,
click Finish to create the event filter.
9. Create the event automation plan that uses the event filter you created in the
previous step:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click
Automation > Event Automation Plans. The Event Automation Plans page
is displayed.
b. Click Create to create the event automation plan. The Create Event
Automation Plan wizard is displayed.
c. On the Welcome page, click Next. The Name and Description page is
displayed.
d. On the Name and Description page, type a name for the event automation
plan, then click Next. The Targets page is displayed.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 237


e. On the Targets page, use the Show list and the Available table to select the
target systems that you want to be affected by the event automation plan.
For each target system that you select, click Add.
f. After you add all the targets, click Next. The Events page is displayed.
g. On the Events page, from the Events list, select Advanced Event Filters.
The Event Filters table is displayed.
h. From the Event Filters table, select the event filter that you created
previously, then click Next. The Event Actions page is displayed.
i. On the Event Actions page, select one or more event actions that you want
to occur when this event automation plan is triggered, then click Next. The
Time Range page is displayed.
j. On the Time Range page, specify the time range that determines when the
event automation plan is active, then click Next. The Summary page is
displayed.
k. On the Summary page, review the settings for the event automation plan.
Click Back if you want to change any settings. When you are satisfied with
the settings, click Finish to create the event automation plan.

When triggered, the event automation plan reports the percentage of space used on
the disk drives, which it identifies by the associated letter names.

Scenario: Using a custom monitor view in an event


automation plan to report cluster drive data using drive letter
names
This example scenario describes how to create a monitor view and use that
monitor view in an event automation plan. The scenario assumes that you want to
create an event automation plan that monitors the percentage of disk drive space
used on specific cluster drives. Additionally, the event automation plan must
report information about the disk drives by using the letter names given to the
drives on the system.

All tasks for this scenario occur within the IBM Systems Director Web interface, so
the scenario assumes some familiarity with browsing the interface and using it to
perform tasks. Also, each of the following steps describes only one way to perform
the action, even if an alternative method exists.

For this scenario, the letter names for the cluster drives to monitor are drive m and
drive n.

To create a custom monitor view for cluster drives and use it within an event
automation plan, perform the following steps:
1. Select the resources that you want to monitor:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Drill down to select the resources that have the cluster drives that you want
to monitor, and select them.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors. If System Status
and Health > Monitors is not a choice available to you, one or more of the
resources you selected are not eligible for monitoring. Make sure to select
only resources that can be monitored.
The Monitors task is displayed with the systems that you specified in step1b
already selected.

238 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. Start creating a monitor view by clicking Actions > Create. The Create View
page is displayed.
3. On the Create View page, in the Name field, type a name for the monitor
group that you are creating.
4. From the Show list, select Selected Resources.
5. Select the monitors for the individual cluster drives that you want to monitor:
a. In the Selected Resources table, select SystemName > Director Agent >
Windows Performance Monitors > LogicalDisk > DriveName, where
v SystemName is the name of the system that contains the cluster drives
v DriveName is the letter name of the cluster drive that you want to
monitor
Monitor information for the cluster drive is displayed.
b. In the Selected Resources table, select the monitors that you want to
include in this monitor group. In this scenario, the monitor must report the
percentage of disk space used, but no available monitor for that
measurement exists. Select % Free Space, for which a threshold can be set
to report the percentage used.
c. After selecting the monitor, click Add to add it to the monitor group, then
click OK.

Note: If you want to monitor drives on more than one system, for each system
that contains drives that you want to monitor, repeat step 5a through step 5c.
The Monitors page is displayed, and the Monitor Views table includes the
monitor view that you created.
6. Click the name of the monitor view that you created. The Monitor View page is
displayed.
7. Activate thresholds for the monitors. For each monitor for which you want to
create a threshold, perform the following actions:
a. Right-click the name of the monitor, then select Activate Threshold. The
Threshold page is displayed.
b. On the Threshold page, specify the threshold values and options that you
want to use, then click OK.

Tip: In this scenario, the maximum threshold value must be a high value of
75% or more disk space used. The monitor reports only the percentage of
free space. To report when the disk has 75% or more disk space used, the
threshold must be set for a low value of 25% or less free disk space.
The Monitor View page is displayed, and the table shows that the new
thresholds are active.
8. Create an event filter to be activated by the thresholds that you created
previously:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click
Automation > Event Filters. The Event Filters page is displayed.
b. Click Create to create the filter. The Create Event Filter wizard is displayed.
c. On the Welcome page, click Next. The Filter Name page is displayed.
d. On the Filter Name page, type the name you want to give this event filter,
then click Next. The Filter Type page is displayed.
e. On the Filter Type page, select a filter type of Threshold event filter, then
click Next. The Event Type page is displayed.
f. On the Event Type page, select an event type of Custom. This scenario
assumes that the event filter does not include IBM i message queue events.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 239


g. In the Event Types table, click Director > Director Agent (Component
Category) > Windows Performance Monitors > Logicaldisk > DriveName
> % Free Space (Component Category), where DriveName is the name of
the cluster drive that you want to monitor. The Event Types table displays
the cluster drive event types.
h. Click Low Warning, then click Add.

Remember: To report a high value for the percentage of disk space used,
the threshold is set to report a low value for the percentage of disk space
free.
The selected event type is added to the Selected list.
i. After you add all the necessary thresholds, click Next.
j. On all subsequent pages (until the Summary page is displayed), accept the
default values or specify the values that you want to use, then click Next.
k. On the Summary page, review the settings for the event filter. Click Back if
you want to change any settings. When you are satisfied with the settings,
click Finish to create the event filter.
9. Create the event automation plan that uses the event filter you created in the
previous step:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click
Automation > Event Automation Plans. The Event Automation Plans page
is displayed.
b. Click Create to create the event automation plan. The Create Event
Automation Plan wizard is displayed.
c. On the Welcome page, click Next. The Name and Description page is
displayed.
d. On the Name and Description page, type a name for the event automation
plan, then click Next. The Targets page is displayed.
e. On the Targets page, use the Show list and the Available table to select the
target systems that you want to be affected by the event automation plan.
For each target system that you select, click Add.
f. After you add all the targets, click Next. The Events page is displayed.
g. On the Events page, from the Events list, select Advanced Event Filters.
The Event Filters table is displayed.
h. From the Event Filters table, select the event filter that you created
previously, then click Next. The Event Actions page is displayed.
i. On the Event Actions page, select one or more event actions that you want
to occur when this event automation plan is triggered, then click Next. The
Time Range page is displayed.
j. On the Time Range page, specify the time range that determines when the
event automation plan is active, then click Next. The Summary page is
displayed.
k. On the Summary page, review the settings for the event automation plan.
Click Back if you want to change any settings. When you are satisfied with
the settings, click Finish to create the event automation plan.

When triggered, the event automation plan reports the percentage of free space on
the cluster drives. (In this case, the measurement desired is the percentage of space
used on the cluster drives, which you have to manually compute from the known
free space.) The data reported by the event automation plan identifies the cluster
drives by their associated letter names.

240 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Monitors and thresholds
Monitors provide the means to retrieve and visually observe real-time changes in
system resources. Activating thresholds on monitors offers a way to trigger events
or report problems when the monitored resource exceeds the threshold. IBM
Systems Director includes monitor views, which are groups of monitors that
belong to a specific category. Examples of monitor views are AIX monitors and
SNMP monitors. Create custom monitor views that contain collections of monitors
that you find useful. Combine monitors, thresholds, and automation plans to
automate troubleshooting or corrective actions in response to reported warnings or
critical situations.

Monitors

Use monitors to observe changes in system resources on physical servers, virtual


servers, supported operating systems and hardware, and Virtual I/O Servers
(VIOS). The IBM Systems Director Web interface offers various locations where you
can use monitors. For example, on the Health Summary page, display one or more
specified monitors as graphs on the dashboard. View lists of monitors on the
Monitor page or see real-time data in columns on the Virtual Servers and Hosts
page. The Performance Summary page has a number of tabs, each of which offers
a selection of monitor columns. Additionally, some other resource tables offer the
ability to add or remove monitor columns, which provides an easy way to visually
monitor a variety of system resources within the table.

Monitor views are groups of commonly supported monitors. Some monitors that
are included in a monitor view might be unavailable to you because the managed
resource does not support them. Several factors determine which monitors are
available to use. Determining factors might include the operating system, hardware
configuration, and software configuration of the managed resource. Creating a
custom monitor view might make available to you additional monitors not
included in the default monitor views.

Thresholds

A threshold is a high or low limit that you do not want the monitored system
resource to exceed. For both the high threshold and the low threshold, you have
the option of specifying a warning value and a critical value. For example, the
high threshold for a monitor that measures the percentage of used space on a disk
drive might have a warning value of 80 and a critical value of 90.

Activating a threshold includes setting options that include specifying whether to


generate an event when the threshold is exceeded and determining the amount of
time the threshold waits before resending the information. When the monitored
resource exceeds the specified value for any threshold limit, the monitor displays
the appropriate icon for a warning or critical notification.

The next step in using monitors and thresholds is to combine them with one or
more event actions in an event action plan, making it possible to automate
troubleshooting and corrective responses to predetermined events. For more
information, see “Events, filters, and actions in event automation plans.”

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 241


Related tasks
“Managing monitors” on page 256
“Managing thresholds” on page 260

Monitor views
Use the Monitors task to monitor critical system resources on your managed
systems. IBM Systems Director arranges available monitors in groups called
monitor views. Each view represents a list of the most commonly available
monitors in a category, for example, monitors that are supported by AIX. Use
existing monitor views or create your own views that contain the selections of
individual monitors that you find useful.

Several factors determine the availability of individual monitors in a monitor view.


Determining factors might include the operating system, hardware configuration,
or software configuration of the managed resource. Depending on those factors,
some monitors included in a view might be unavailable in your environment.

Note: The monitor views described in the following topics are only those views
that ship with Systems Director. Installing an advanced plug-in might install one or
more additional monitor views that are not described here. For more information,
see the documentation for that plug-in.

When you create a monitor view, the Create View page presents all the available
monitors in each category, not just the most common monitors. Creating your own
monitor view makes available additional monitors that are not in the commonly
used sets of monitors included in the default monitor views.

Polling intervals (or how often data collection is performed) for monitors depend
on the managed system or device. In general, using the default settings, data
collections occur every 5 - 10 seconds, and the display refreshes every 10 - 20
seconds. Polling intervals affect the minimum granularity and timeliness of any
thresholds applied to a monitor.

Note: To change the polling intervals for virtualization manager monitors, see
“Changing virtualization monitor polling intervals.”
Related tasks
“Changing virtualization monitor polling intervals” on page 255

AIX Monitors view


The AIX Monitors view contains some of the monitors most commonly reported by
installed versions of AIX as being available to IBM Systems Director. When you
create your own monitor view, additional individual AIX monitors might be
available.

The following table lists some of the most commonly available monitors from the
AIX Monitors view and the data that each monitor retrieves.

Note: Several factors determine the availability of the individual monitors listed in
the following table. Determining factors might include the operating system,
hardware configuration, or software configuration of the managed resource.
Depending on those factors, some monitors listed in the following table might be
unavailable to you, and some monitors that are not listed might be available.

242 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 22. Monitors commonly available in the AIX Monitors view
Monitor name Data retrieved

Active Memory Sharing Enabled Whether memory sharing is enabled.
Possible values are:
v TRUE
v FALSE
Active Time of /dev/hdisk0 for processing The percentage of time that the physical disk
request (%) is active (bandwidth utilization for the
drive) or, in other words, the total time disk
requests are outstanding.
Active Virtual Memory (4K Pages) Active virtual memory in (4K page units)
Available Space of /dev/hdisk0 (MB) Amount of available space (in megabytes)
on the specified disk drive
Available Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Capacity of /dev/hdisk0 (MB) Total capacity (in megabytes) of the specified
disk drive
CPU Computing Unit (%) A percentage that represents the average
time that the processor spends in the user
mode, system mode, idle state, and wait
state divided by the length of time being
measured
CPU Utilization Rate at which the CPU is running
Ethernet Kilobytes Received Rate of en0 Rate of data received (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Received Rate of lo0 Rate of data received (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Throughout Rate of en0 Rate of successful data communication
(KB/sec) (receipt and transmission, in kilobytes per
second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Throughout Rate of lo0 Rate of successful data communication
(KB/sec) (receipt and transmission, in kilobytes per
second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Transmitted Rate of en0 Rate of data transmitted (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Transmitted Rate of lo0 Rate of data transmitted (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Packets Received Rate of en0 Rate of data received (in kilobytes per
(Packets/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 243


Table 22. Monitors commonly available in the AIX Monitors view (continued)
Monitor name Data retrieved
Ethernet Packets Received Rate of lo0 Rate of data received (in packets per second)
(Packets/sec) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Packets Transmitted Rate of en0 Rate of data transmitted (in packets per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Packets Transmitted Rate of lo0 Rate of data transmitted (in packets per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Memory Mode The memory mode
Memory Page Fault (Pages/sec) Rate of page faults (in pages per second)
Memory Page Steal (Pages/sec) Rate of page steals (in pages per second)
Memory Usage Memory being used (in megabytes)
Paging Space Remaining (MB) Amount of remaining paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Reserved (MB) Amount of reserved paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Total (MB) Total amount of paging space (in megabytes)
Paging Space Used (MB) Amount of used paging space (in
megabytes)
Time for Servicing Transfers in relation to The percentage of time that the physical disk
Active Time of /dev/hdisk0 (%) is busy servicing a transfer request
compared to the time the disk is active (the
time when transfer requests are outstanding)
Total Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem

244 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 22. Monitors commonly available in the AIX Monitors view (continued)
Monitor name Data retrieved
Note:
v These monitors gather data that is supplied by the agent.
v IBM Systems Director monitor and threshold memory values are measured in megabytes
(1024*1024 bytes). Some applications measure memory in millions of bytes. For example,
the memory value for 2 GB is the number of megabytes, or 2048 (1024*2).

All Monitors view


The All Monitors view contains all of the available individual monitors from the
other views that ship with IBM Systems Director.

When you create a monitor view, the Create View page presents all the available
monitors in each category, not just the most common monitors. Creating your own
monitor view makes available additional monitors that are not in the commonly
used sets of monitors included in the default monitor views.

For more information about available monitors, look at the information for the
specific view in which you are interested.

Column Management Monitors view


The Column Management Monitors view contains a selection of monitors offered
as resource table columns by the installed plug-ins. This monitor view is the only
view that ships with IBM Systems Director that you can edit, which means you
can add monitors that you want to use as columns in resource tables.

For example, when viewing a list of resources (not groups) on the Navigate
Resources page, click Actions > Columns to add columns to or remove columns
from the table. Some of the available columns to add or remove are monitors that
are included in the Column Management Monitors view.

Common CIM Monitors view


The Common CIM (Common Information Model) Monitors view contains some of
the most common CIM monitors. When you create your own monitor view,
additional individual CIM monitors might be available.

The following table lists some of the most commonly available monitors from the
Common CIM Monitors view and the data that each monitor retrieves.

Note: Several factors determine the availability of the individual monitors listed in
the following table. Determining factors might include the operating system,
hardware configuration, or software configuration of the managed resource.
Depending on those factors, some monitors listed in the following table might be
unavailable to you, and some monitors that are not listed might be available.
Table 23. Monitors commonly available in the CIM Monitors view
Monitor name Data retrieved
CPU Utilization Rate at which the CPU is running
Disk % Space Available Percentage of available disk space
Disk Space Remaining (MB) Amount of remaining (available) disk space
(in megabytes)

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 245


Table 23. Monitors commonly available in the CIM Monitors view (continued)
Monitor name Data retrieved
Memory Usage (MB) Memory being used (in megabytes)
Paging Space Remaining (MB) Amount of remaining paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Reserved (MB) Amount of reserved paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Total (MB) Total amount of paging space (in megabytes)
Paging Space Used (MB) Amount of used paging space (in
megabytes)
Time for Servicing Transfers in relation to The percentage of time that the physical disk
Active Time of /dev/hdisk0 (%) is busy servicing a transfer request
compared to the time the disk is active (the
time when transfer requests are outstanding)
Total Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of total disk space (in
megabytes)(in megabytes) for the specified
filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Note:
v These monitors gather data that is supplied by the agent.
v IBM Systems Director monitor and threshold memory values are measured in megabytes
(1024*1024 bytes). Some applications measure memory in millions of bytes. For example,
the memory value for 2 GB is the number of megabytes, or 2048 (1024*2).

246 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Common Monitors view
The Common Monitors view contains some of the most common monitors for
operating systems that are supported by IBM Systems Director. When you create
your own monitor view, additional individual operating systems monitors might
be available.

The following table lists some of the most commonly available monitors from the
Common Monitors view and the data that each monitor retrieves.

Note: Several factors determine the availability of the individual monitors listed in
the following table. Determining factors might include the operating system,
hardware configuration, or software configuration of the managed resource.
Depending on those factors, some monitors listed in the following table might be
unavailable to you, and some monitors that are not listed might be available.
Table 24. Monitors commonly available in the Common Monitors view
Monitor name Data retrieved
Active Processors Number of available processors
CPU Utilization Rate at which the CPU is running
Disk 0 Workload Workload managed by disk 0
Disk % Space Used Percentage of space used on the disk
Disk Space Used (MB) Amount of space used on the disk (in
megabytes)
Locked Memory (MB) Amount of memory locked (in megabytes)
Memory Usage (MB) Memory being used (in megabytes)
Paging Space Remaining (MB) Amount of remaining paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Reserved (MB) Amount of reserved paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Total (MB) Total amount of paging space (in megabytes)
Paging Space Used (MB) Amount of used paging space (in
megabytes)
Time for Servicing Transfers in relation to The percentage of time that the physical disk
Active Time of /dev/hdisk0 (%) is busy servicing a transfer request
compared to the time the disk is active (the
time when transfer requests are outstanding)
Total Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 247


Table 24. Monitors commonly available in the Common Monitors view (continued)
Monitor name Data retrieved
Used Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Note:
v These monitors gather data that is supplied by the agent.
v IBM Systems Director monitor and threshold memory values are measured in megabytes
(1024*1024 bytes). Some applications measure memory in millions of bytes. For example,
the memory value for 2 GB is the number of megabytes, or 2048 (1024*2).

SNMP Monitors view


The SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) Monitors view contains
monitors supported by SNMP devices.

The SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) Monitors view contains only
one monitor: Network Bytes Transferred. The Network Bytes Transferred monitor
retrieves the total number of bytes (using SNMP) transmitted or received by the
resource.

VIOS Monitors view


The VIOS (Virtual I/O Server) Monitors view contains the most common monitors
reported by VIOS as being available to IBM Systems Director. When you create
your own monitor view, additional individual VIOS monitors might be available.

The following table lists the monitors included in the VIOS Monitors view and the
data that each monitor retrieves.

Note: Several factors determine the availability of the individual monitors listed in
the following table. Determining factors might include the operating system,
hardware configuration, or software configuration of the managed resource.
Depending on those factors, some monitors listed in the following table might be
unavailable to you, and some monitors that are not listed might be available.
Table 25. Monitors commonly available in the VIOS Monitors view
Monitor name Data retrieved
Active Memory Sharing Enabled Whether memory sharing is enabled.
Possible values are:
v TRUE
v FALSE
Active Time of /dev/hdisk0 for processing The percentage of time that the physical disk
request (%) is active (bandwidth utilization for the
drive) or, in other words, the total time disk
requests are outstanding.

248 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 25. Monitors commonly available in the VIOS Monitors view (continued)
Monitor name Data retrieved
Active Virtual Memory (4 K Pages) Active virtual memory (in 4 K page units)
Available Space of /dev/hdisk0 (MB) Amount of available space (in megabytes)
on the specified disk drive
Available Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Available Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of available disk space (in
megabytes) for the specified filesystem
Capacity of /dev/hdisk0 (MB) Total capacity (in megabytes) of the specified
disk drive
CPU Computing Unit (%) A percentage that represents the average
time that the processor spends in the user
mode, system mode, idle state, and wait
state divided by the length of time being
measured
CPU Utilization Rate at which the processor is running
Ethernet Kilobytes Received Rate of en0 Rate of data received (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Received Rate of lo0 Rate of data received (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Throughout Rate of en0 Rate of successful data communication
(KB/sec) (receipt and transmission, in kilobytes per
second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Throughout Rate of lo0 Rate of successful data communication
(KB/sec) (receipt and transmission, in kilobytes per
second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Transmitted Rate of en0 Rate of data transmitted (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Kilobytes Transmitted Rate of lo0 Rate of data transmitted (in kilobytes per
(KB/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Packets Received Rate of en0 Rate of data received (in packets per second)
(Packets/sec) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Packets Received Rate of lo0 Rate of data received (in packets per second)
(Packets/sec) by way of Ethernet connection
Ethernet Packets Transmitted Rate of en0 Rate of ethernet data transmitted (in packets
(Packets/sec) per second)
Ethernet Packets Transmitted Rate of lo0 Rate of data transmitted (in packets per
(Packets/sec) second) by way of Ethernet connection
Memory Mode The memory mode
Memory Page Fault (Pages/sec) Rate of page faults (in pages per second)

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 249


Table 25. Monitors commonly available in the VIOS Monitors view (continued)
Monitor name Data retrieved
Memory Page Steal (Pages/sec) Rate of page steals (in pages per second)
Memory Usage (MB) Memory being used (in megabytes)
Paging Space Remaining (MB) Amount of remaining paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Reserved (MB) Amount of reserved paging space (in
megabytes)
Paging Space Total (MB) Total amount of paging space (in megabytes)
Paging Space Used (MB) Amount of used paging space (in
megabytes)
Shared Ethernet Adapter ent4 Byte In Rate Rate at which the adapter is receiving data
(Kilobytes/sec) (in kilobytes per second)
Shared Ethernet Adapter ent4 Byte Out Rate Rate at which the adapter is transmitting
(Kilobytes/sec) data (in kilobytes per second)
Shared Ethernet Adapter ent4 Packet In/sec Rate at which the adapter is receiving data
(in packets per second)
Shared Ethernet Adapter ent4 Packet Rate at which the adapter is transmitting
Out/sec data (in packets per second)
Time for Servicing Transfers in relation to The percentage of time that the physical disk
Active Time of /dev/hdisk0 (%) is busy servicing a transfer request
compared to the time the disk is active (the
time when transfer requests are outstanding)
Total Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Total Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of total disk space (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem / (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /home (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /opt (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /tmp (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /usr (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Used Space of Filesystem /var (MB) Amount of disk space used (in megabytes)
for the specified filesystem
Virtual Target Device vtscsi0 Read Rate Rate at which the specified device is reading
(Kilobytes/sec) data (in kilobytes per second)

250 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 25. Monitors commonly available in the VIOS Monitors view (continued)
Monitor name Data retrieved
Virtual Target Device vtscsi0 Transfer Rate Rate at which the specified device is
(Count for transmission/sec) transferring data (in count for transmission
per second)
Virtual Target Device vtscsi0 Write Rate Rate at which the specified device is writing
(Kilobytes/sec) data (in kilobytes per second)
Virtual Target Device vtscsi1 Read Rate Rate at which the specified device is reading
(Kilobytes/sec) data (in kilobytes per second)
Virtual Target Device vtscsi1 Transfer Rate Rate at which the specified device is
(Count for transmission/sec) transferring data (in count for transmission
per second)
Virtual Target Device vtscsi1 Write Rate Rate at which the specified device is writing
(Kilobytes/sec) data (in kilobytes per second)
Virtual Target Device vtscsi2 Read Rate Rate at which the specified device is reading
(Kilobytes/sec) data (in kilobytes per second)
Virtual Target Device vtscsi2 Transfer Rate Rate at which the specified device is
(Count for transmission/sec) transferring data (in count for transmission
per second)
Virtual Target Device vtscsi2 Write Rate Rate at which the specified device is writing
(Kilobytes/sec) data (in kilobytes per second)
Note:
v These monitors gather data that is supplied by the agent.
v IBM Systems Director monitor and threshold memory values are measured in megabytes
(1024*1024 bytes). Some applications measure memory in millions of bytes. For example,
the memory value for 2 GB is the number of megabytes, or 2048 (1024*2).

Virtualization Monitors view


The Virtualization Monitors view contains monitors that are available for all
supported virtualization platforms, although some individual monitors in the
group might be platform-specific. Use these monitors to retrieve real-time status
and quantitative data for the specified properties and attributes of your virtual
resources.

Note: To use virtualization monitors on an IBM Power system, you must first
enable utilization data collection on the managed system. Use the Hardware
Management Console (HMC) or the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) to
enable utilization data collection. For more information, see Setting the HMC to
collect resource utilization data for managed systems.

The following table lists the monitors included in the Virtualization Monitors view,
supported resources, and the pages in the IBM Systems Director Web interface
where you can display the monitors.
Table 26. Monitors included in the Virtualization Monitors view, including supported
resources
Monitor Supported resources Pages
CPU Utilization % v Host v Performance Summary -
v Virtual server Processor tab
v Processor pool1 v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 251


Table 26. Monitors included in the Virtualization Monitors view, including supported
resources (continued)
Monitor Supported resources Pages
CPU Utilization Units v Host v Performance Summary -
v Virtual server Processor tab
v Processor pool1 v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
CPU Utilization Capped v Virtual server v Performance Summary -
Units Processor tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
CPU Utilization Uncapped v Virtual server v Performance Summary -
Units Processor tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Entitled Processing Units v Virtual server v Performance Summary -
v Processor pool1 Processor tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Available Processing Units v Host v Performance Summary -
Processor tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Processors v Host v Performance Summary -
v Virtual server Processor tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Available Processors v Host v Performance Summary -
Processor tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Memory (MB) v Host v Performance Summary -
v Virtual server Memory tab
v Memory pool1 v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Available Memory (MB) v Host v Performance Summary -
v Memory pool1 Memory tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Physical Memory (MB) v Host v Performance Summary -
v Virtual server Memory tab
v Memory pool1 v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Page Faults/sec v Memory pool1 v Performance Summary -
Memory tab
Page-In Delay (sec) v Memory pool1 v Performance Summary -
Memory tab
I/O Entitled Memory (MB) v Virtual server v Performance Summary -
v Memory pool1 Memory tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors

252 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 26. Monitors included in the Virtualization Monitors view, including supported
resources (continued)
Monitor Supported resources Pages
Mapped I/O Entitled v Virtual server v Performance Summary -
Memory (MB) v Memory pool1 Memory tab
v Virtual Servers and Hosts
v Monitors
Memory Overcommitment v Memory pool1 v Performance Summary -
(MB) Memory tab
Bytes Transmitted/sec v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Network tab
Bytes Received/sec v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Network tab
Packets Transmitted/sec v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Network tab
Packets Received/sec v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Network tab
MC (Multicast) Packets v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Transmitted/sec Network tab
MC (Multicast) Packets v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Received/sec Network tab
BC (Broadcast) Packets v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Transmitted/sec Network tab
BC (Broadcast) Packets v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Received/sec Network tab
Pause Frames v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Transmitted/sec Network tab
Pause Frames v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Received/sec Network tab
Error Rate/sec v Port1 v Performance Summary -
Network tab
1. Monitor for this resource is displayed in the Performance Summary view only.

Related tasks
“Viewing the performance summary” on page 226

Polling intervals for virtualization monitors


The polling interval for virtualization monitors represents how often IBM Systems
Director requests monitor data for a managed resource. Monitoring large numbers
of managed resources can negatively affect performance on the management
server. Adjusting appropriate polling intervals helps to minimize the negative
performance impacts.

Polling intervals for virtualization monitors are defined in the user-created


vsmmetric.properties file. For more information about how to create and edit the
vsmmetric.properties file, see “Changing virtualization monitor polling intervals.”

Parameters for virtualization monitor polling intervals:

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 253


Virtualization monitor polling interval parameters occur in the
vsmmetric.properites file as name/value pairs. The name represents the service to
which the interval applies and the value specifies the duration of the interval in
milliseconds (ms).

Use parameters to set different polling intervals for one, several, or all the
virtualization platform services. For example, when you are monitoring a large
number of managed resources on a specific platform, you might want a longer
polling interval for that platform than for other platforms where you are
monitoring fewer managed resources.

Important: Consider the following information when working with the


parameters:
v Parameter names are case-sensitive.
v Define each parameter on a separate line.
v Parameter values are always in milliseconds. For example, a value of 30000 is
equal to 30 seconds.
v If the same parameter is specified more than once, the last parameter value in
the file is used.
v No error-checking is performed on the vsmmetric.properties file. Parameter
names that do not exactly match expected parameters are ignored.
v Insert a comment by starting the line with a number (#) character.

The following table lists the parameters by name, describes the parameter, and
gives the default value.

Note: Consider the default value to be the minimal value. There is no maximum
value.
Table 27. Parameters for virtualization monitor polling intervals
Parameter name Description Default value (in
milliseconds)
DirectorPollingInterval The frequency at which the management 30000
server polls the platform services.1
PlatformPollingInterval The frequency at which the platform 30000
services poll a managed resource.2
PowerPlatformPollingInterval The frequency at which the Power Systems 60000
platform services poll a managed resource.3
PowerPlatformUtilizationPollingInterval The frequency at which thePower Systems 60000
platform services poll a managed resource
for utilization data.3
PowerPlatformAllocationPollingInterval The frequency at which the Power Systems 60000
platform services poll a managed resource
for allocation data.3
PowerPlatformPhysPortStatsCollectionInterval The amount of time between HEA physical 60000
port counter samples.3
ZvmPlatformPollingInterval The frequency at which the z/VM platform 120000
services poll a managed resource.3
VmwarePlatformPollingInterval The frequency at which the VMware 30000
platform services poll a managed resource.3
HypervPlatformPollingInterval The frequency at which HyperV platform 30000
services poll a managed resource.3

254 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 27. Parameters for virtualization monitor polling intervals (continued)
Parameter name Description Default value (in
milliseconds)
1. Always used.
2. Used unless a more specific (and applicable) platform polling value is defined.
3. If applicable, always used when defined. Otherwise, PlatformPollingInterval is used.

Sample file to specify virtualization monitor polling intervals:

The sample vsmmetric.properties file is provided to assist advanced users who


want finer control of virtualization monitor polling intervals.

vsmmetric.properties

All polling interval values in the sample file are the default values, measured in
milliseconds. A number sign (#) at the beginning of a line means that the line is
commented out. All entries in the sample file are commented out. Remove the
number sign (#) for each entry that you want to use.
# This file contains properties that are used to control polling intervals for
# virtualization monitors. After making changes to this file, restart the Systems
# Director server for the changed value to take effect. When defined, more
# specific polling intervals are always honored and override the more common
# polling intervals.

# All interval values are in milliseconds (ms).

# Represents the frequency at which the management server polls the platform
# services.
# DirectorPollingInterval=30000

# Represents the frequency at which the platform services poll a managed resource.
# PlatformPollingInterval=30000

# Represents the frequency at which the Power Systems(tm) platform services poll a
# managed resource.
# PowerPlatformPollingInterval=60000

# Represents the frequency at which the Power Systems(tm) platform services poll a
# managed resource for utilization data.
# PowerPlatformUtilizationPollingInterval=60000

# Represents the frequency at which the Power Systems(tm) platform services poll a
# managed resource for allocation data.
# PowerPlatformAllocationPollingInterval=60000

# Represents the amount of time between HEA physical port counter samples
# PowerPlatformPhysPortStatsCollectionInterval=60000

# Represents the frequency at which the z/VM(r) platform services poll a managed
# resource.
# ZvmPlatformPollingInterval=120000

# Represents the frequency at which the VMware platform services poll a managed
# resource.
# VmwarePlatformPollingInterval=30000

# Represents the frequency at which the HyperV platform services poll a managed
# resource.
# HypervPlatformPollingInterval=30000

Changing virtualization monitor polling intervals:

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 255


Change the current polling intervals for virtualization monitors by creating or
updating the virtualization monitor polling interval file (vsmmetric.properties).

To modify the vsmmetric.properties file, perform the following steps:


1. Use a text editor to open an empty file named vsmmetric.properties in the
following location: install_path/IBM/Data/vsmmetric.properties where
install_path is the path where you installed IBM Systems Director.

Note: If the vsmmetric.properties file exists, open the file with a text editor,
then go to step 3.
2. Copy and paste the contents of the sample virtualization polling interval file.
3. If the parameter line that you want to modify begins with a number (#)
character, remove the number character. A number sign (#) at the beginning of
a line means that the line is commented out.
4. Type a new value in the place of the current value. All parameter definitions
use the following format: parameter_name=value. For example:
# This line is a comment. The following line is a parameter definition
DirectorPollingInterval=30000

For information about the parameters that you can use, see “Parameters for
virtualization monitor polling intervals.”
5. Modify other parameters as needed.
6. Save and close the file.

For the changed values to take effect, restart the IBM Systems Director server.
Related reference
“Monitor views” on page 242

Managing monitors
The Monitors task provides the tools that you need to retrieve real-time status and
quantitative data for specific properties and attributes of resources in your
environment. You can also set thresholds for the monitors, graph the data that
monitors retrieve, and drill down to quickly view the status of resources for each
system and the name of the monitor so that you can view its properties.

Note: For a list of items that you should consider while working with resource
monitors and event automation plans, see “Resource-monitor threshold settings
change unexpectedly”.
Related concepts
“Dashboard” on page 229
Related tasks
“Viewing the performance summary” on page 226
Related reference
“Monitors and thresholds” on page 241

Resource-monitor threshold settings change unexpectedly

Viewing a monitor
Use the Monitors task to view the monitors you have set for your resource.

To view a monitor, complete the following steps:

256 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. Open the Monitors task using one of two methods, both of which open the
same Monitors task:
Open the Monitors task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface
navigation area:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Monitors.
Open the Monitors task from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors.
The Monitors task with a table listing applicable monitor views and
information about each monitor view is displayed.
2. To select one or more target resources, click Browse. The Context Chooser is
displayed.
3. Use the Context Chooser to add one or more resources or groups of resources
as a target:
a. To add a group, select the group that you want to add as a target. To add a
single resource, drill down from the group that includes the resource that
you want to add and select the resource.
b. Click Add.
c. Continue selecting groups or resources as needed.
d. When you are finished adding targets, click OK.
4. From the Monitor selection page, select the monitor view that you want to be
displayed for the targets that you selected.
5. Click Show Monitors. The Monitor View page listing monitors for the targets
that you selected is displayed.
6. View the properties for the monitor in the table or click the monitor to view
additional properties and details.

Creating a monitor view


Use the Monitors task to create views of monitors.

Ensure that the resources on which you create the monitor views have the
appropriate level of agent running on them. Agent level requirements for creating
monitors are as follows:
v Common monitors are available only for systems running Common Agent or
IBM Director Agent version 5.20.
v Common CIM monitors are available for all Common Agent managed systems
(except for Linux on System x Common Agent managed systems), all Windows
Platform Agent managed systems, and Linux on System z Platform Agent
managed systems.
v No common monitors or common CIM monitors are available for Agentless
managed systems.

To create a monitor view, complete the following steps:


1. Open the Monitors task using one of two methods, both of which open the
same Monitors task:
Open the Monitors task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface
navigation area:

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 257


a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Monitors.
Open the Monitors task from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors.
The Monitors task with a table listing applicable monitor views and
information about each monitor view is displayed.
2. Click Create. The Create View page is displayed.
3. In the Name field, specify a name for the new monitor view.
4. Specify an optional description for the monitor view.
5. In the Show field, select Selected Resources to choose from existing monitored
resources or Monitor Views to choose from existing monitor views. For more
information about monitors that are shipped with Systems Director, see
“Monitor views.”
6. In the Available table, double-click a monitor to view and select all the
monitored resources that you want to add to your new monitor view.
For example, double-click Disk Monitors to view monitors that are available
for each hard disk drive present in a system.
7. Click Add.

Note: Add is activated only when an item that can be monitored, such as CPU
Utilization, is selected. If you select any items that cannot be monitored, Add
remains deactivated.
8. Click OK.

The new monitor view appears in the Monitor Views table.

Editing a monitor view


Use the Monitors task to edit monitor views.

To edit a monitor view, complete the following steps:


1. Open the Monitors task using one of two methods, both of which open the
same Monitors task:
Open the Monitors task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface
navigation area:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Monitors.
Open the Monitors task from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors.
The Monitors task with a table listing applicable monitor views and
information about each monitor view is displayed.
2. Select the monitor view that you want to edit.
3. Click Actions > Edit.

258 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. Modify the monitor view values as needed.
5. Click OK.

Deleting a monitor view


You can delete monitor views that you no longer need.

A monitor view must exist before you can delete it.

To delete a monitor view, complete the following steps:


1. Open the Monitors task using one of two methods, both of which open the
same Monitors task:
Open the Monitors task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface
navigation area:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Monitors.
Open the Monitors task from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors.
The Monitors task with a table listing applicable monitor views and
information about each monitor view is displayed.
2. Select the monitor view that you want to delete.
3. Click Actions > Delete.
4. Click Delete.

The monitor view will no longer appear in the Monitors Views table.

Graphing a monitor
Use the Monitor View task to view graphical representations of the monitors on
your resource.

To graph a monitor, complete the following steps:


1. Open the Monitors task using one of two methods, both of which open the
same Monitors task:
Open the Monitors task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface
navigation area:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Monitors.
Open the Monitors task from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors.
The Monitors task with a table listing applicable monitor views and
information about each monitor view is displayed.
2. Select the monitor for which you want to create a graph.
3. Click Actions > Graph. The Graph page is displayed.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 259


4. Modify the options of the graph, including graph type and zoom level, as
needed.

Managing thresholds
The Thresholds task offers a consolidated view of all the thresholds that you have
created to monitor the dynamic properties of your resource. This task saves you
from searching for them all in the Monitors task.
Related reference
“Monitors and thresholds” on page 241

Viewing a threshold
Use the Thresholds task to view thresholds that are set for the monitors on your
resources or use the Navigate Resources task to view thresholds for a specific
resource.

To view a threshold, complete the following steps that apply to the method that
you want to use:
1. View thresholds that are set for the monitors on your resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Thresholds. The Thresholds page with a table listing
applicable thresholds and information about each threshold is displayed.
b. View the properties for the threshold in the table or click the threshold to
view additional properties and details.
2. View thresholds for a specific resource:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Navigate to the resource for which you want to view the threshold.
c. From the Navigate Resources table, right-click the resource and select
System Status and Health > Thresholds. The Thresholds page is displayed.

Creating a threshold
You can create a threshold by activating a threshold on a specific monitor.

A monitor must have a threshold status of None before you can create a threshold
for it.

Tip: You can configure an event automation plan to send an e-mail notification
when a specified resource reaches a predefined threshold. When creating the event
automation plan, select a threshold common event and configure the event action
to send an e-mail to the appropriate recipient. For more information about
threshold common events, see “Selecting common categories of events for
filtering”.

To create a threshold for a specific monitor, complete the following steps:


1. Open the Monitors task using one of two methods, both of which open the
same Monitors task:
Open the Monitors task from the IBM Systems Director Web interface
navigation area:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Monitors.

260 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Open the Monitors task from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Monitors.
The Monitors task with a table listing applicable monitor views and
information about each monitor view is displayed.
2. From the Monitor selection page, select the monitor view that you want to be
displayed for the targets that you selected.
3. Click Show Monitors. The Monitor View page listing monitors for the targets
that you selected is displayed.
4. Select the monitor for which you want to create a threshold.
5. Click Actions > Activate Threshold. The Threshold page is displayed.
6. Input and modify the threshold settings as needed.
7. Click OK.

The threshold status value in the Monitor View table will change from None to
Activated and the threshold settings will be displayed

Editing a threshold
Use the Thresholds task to edit thresholds that are set for the monitors on your
resource.

To edit a threshold, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Thresholds. The Thresholds page with a table listing
applicable thresholds and information about each threshold is displayed.
2. Select the threshold that you want to edit.
3. Click Actions > Edit Threshold. The Threshold page is displayed.
4. Modify the settings for the threshold as needed.
5. Click OK.

Activating a threshold
You can activate thresholds that have been previously deactivated.

A threshold must be in the deactivated (disabled) state before you can activate it.

To activate a threshold, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Thresholds. The Thresholds page with a table listing
applicable thresholds and information about each threshold is displayed.
2. Select the deactivated threshold that you want to activate.
3. Click Activate Threshold. The Threshold page is displayed.
4. Optional: Modify any settings for the threshold that you want to change.
5. Click OK.

The threshold status value in the thresholds table will change from deactivated to
activated.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 261


Related concepts
“Dashboard” on page 229
Related tasks
“Viewing the performance summary” on page 226

Deactivating a threshold
You can deactivate thresholds that have been previously activated.

A threshold must be in the activated (enabled) state before you can deactivate it.

To deactivate a threshold, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Thresholds. The Thresholds page with a table listing
applicable thresholds and information about each threshold is displayed.
2. Select the deactivated threshold that you want to activate.
3. Click Actions > Deactivate Threshold.
4. Click OK.

The threshold status value in the thresholds table will change from Activated to
Deactivated.

Deleting a threshold
You can delete thresholds that you no longer want associated with your monitors.

A threshold must exist before you can delete it.

To delete a threshold, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health > Thresholds. The Thresholds page with a table listing
applicable thresholds and information about each threshold is displayed.
2. Select the threshold that you want to delete.
3. Click Actions > Delete Threshold.
4. Click Delete.

The threshold will no longer appear in the thresholds table.

Managing status set entries


The status set entries that are reported by resources that are managed by IBM
Systems Director help to indicate the overall health of your environment. By
managing and monitoring status set entries, which include problems and
compliance issues, you can help prevent undetected failures that cause network
interruptions and data loss.

Status set entries that are reported by resources in your environment are tracked
by IBM Systems Director. You can use IBM Systems Director to quickly navigate to
and display these entries. You can also control the entries that are displayed and
collected by IBM Systems Director.

The Health Summary task displays several resource-monitoring tools on a single


page. Together, these tools provide a single, consolidated interface with which you
can quickly view the status of important areas of your environment, monitor

262 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


critical resources, and view the contents of user-defined health summary groups.
You can also use other tasks in IBM Systems Director Web interface, such as
Navigate Resources and Find a Resource to quickly navigate to specific resources.
After you have located a specific resource, you can use the Actions menu to view
its status.

You can perform the following actions on status set entries that are tracked by IBM
Systems Director:
Delete Clears a status set entry. When a status set entry is deleted, the individual
status set entry is removed from IBM Systems Director tasks that might
display it; however, future occurrences of the entry are still tracked and
counted by IBM Systems Director.
Ignore Deactivates a status set entry. When a status set entry is deactivated for a
system or a specific entry type, the systems continues to generate that
entry and the entry still occurs. However, IBM Systems Director tracks its
status in only the event log. Future occurrences of the entry that occur for
the specified system are not displayed or counted by IBM Systems Director
unless you reactivate the status set entry.
Activate
Activates a status set entry that has been deactivated. When a status set
entry is activated, the individual status set entry and all future occurrences
of the entry are tracked and counted by IBM Systems Director.

Viewing a specific status set entry


Status set entries that are reported by resources in your environment are tracked
by IBM Systems Director and displayed in the applicable health summary tasks
and panels. Use the System Status and Health tasks to view status set entries that
have been collected by IBM Systems Director.

You can view status set entries for only those resources to which you have access.

To view a specific status set entry, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and navigate to the type of status set entry that you want to
view:
v To navigate to a hardware or power-related status set entry, click Problems.
The Problems task lists only those elevated status set entries that are problem
status set entries that have been reported to IBM Systems Director Server.
Note that the data listed here is a subset of what is listed on the Active
Status page. From the Problems page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
v To navigate to all status set entries, including problems, click Active Status.
The Active Status task lists all of the status set entries, including problems
and compliance issues, that have been reported to IBM Systems Director
Server. From the Active Status page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
A table listing applicable status set entries and information about each entry is
displayed.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 263


2. View the properties for the status set entry in the table or click the status set
entry to view additional properties and details.

You can use the Ignore, Activate, and Delete actions to control the entries that are
displayed and collected.

Viewing status set entries for a specific resource


Status set entries that are reported by resources in your environment are tracked
by IBM Systems Director and displayed in the applicable health summary tasks
and panels. Use the Navigate Resources task to view status set entries for specific
resources.

You can view status set entries for only those resources to which you have access.

To view the status information for a specific resource, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. In the table view, drill down to the resource that you want to view within the
group that contains that resource.
3. Select the resource that you want to view.
4. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Active Status. The active status
set entries are listed for the resource.

Note: In a targeted launch scenario, only status that applies to the target is
displayed.

You can use the Ignore, Activate, and Delete actions to control the entries that are
displayed and collected.

Viewing status set entries for a group of resources


Status set entries that are reported by resources in your environment are tracked
by IBM Systems Director and displayed in the applicable health summary tasks
and panels. Use the Navigate Resources task to view status set entries for the
resources that belong to a specific group.

You can view status set entries for only those resources to which you have access.

To view status set entries for a group of resources, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. In the table view, select one or more groups from the list.
3. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Active Status. The active status
set entries are listed for the resources that belong to the selected group.

Note: In a targeted launch scenario, only status that applies to the targets is
displayed.

You can use the Ignore, Activate, and Delete actions to control the entries that are
displayed and collected.

264 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Activating a status set entry
You can activate (un-ignore) individual status set entries that have been
deactivated (ignored). Status set entries that are activated are tracked by IBM
Systems Director and are displayed in the applicable Health Summary tasks and
panels.

When status set entries are activated for a system or a specific entry type, IBM
Systems Director tracks them.

To activate a status set entry, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and navigate to the type of status set entry that you want to
view:
v To navigate to a hardware or power-related status set entry, click Problems.
The Problems task lists only those elevated status set entries that are problem
status set entries that have been reported to IBM Systems Director Server.
Note that the data listed here is a subset of what is listed on the Active
Status page. From the Problems page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
v To navigate to all status set entries, including problems, click Active Status.
The Active Status task lists all of the status set entries, including problems
and compliance issues, that have been reported to IBM Systems Director
Server. From the Active Status page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
A table listing applicable status set entries and information about each entry is
displayed.
2. Click Ignored Status.
3. Select the entry that you want to activate.
4. Click Activate.

Deactivating a status set entry


You can deactivate (ignore) individual status set entries that you do not want IBM
Systems Director to collect. Status set entries that are deactivated are ignored by
IBM Systems Director and are not displayed in the health summary tasks and
panels.

When a status set entry is deactivated for a system or a specific entry type, the
systems continue to generate that entry and the entry still occurs. However, IBM
Systems Director does not track its status. Future occurrences of the entry on the
specified system will not be displayed or counted.

To deactivate a status set entry, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and navigate to the type of status set entry that you want to
view:
v To navigate to a hardware or power-related status set entry, click Problems.
The Problems task lists only those elevated status set entries that are problem
status set entries that have been reported to IBM Systems Director Server.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 265


Note that the data listed here is a subset of what is listed on the Active
Status page. From the Problems page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
v To navigate to all status set entries, including problems, click Active Status.
The Active Status task lists all of the status set entries, including problems
and compliance issues, that have been reported to IBM Systems Director
Server. From the Active Status page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
A table listing applicable status set entries and information about each entry is
displayed.
2. Select the entry that you want to deactivate.
3. Click Ignore.
4. In the Ignore Confirmation window, select the option that represents the
desired scope for the ignore operation:
v Selected resources only
v All resources
5. Click OK.

You can display entries that have been deactivated and then reactivate them. You
can also delete individual entries to clear the specific occurrence of the entry but
not future occurrences.

Deleting a status set entry


You can delete individual status set entries that you do not want IBM Systems
Director to collect. Status set entries that are deleted are not displayed in the health
summary tasks and panels.

When a status set entry is deleted, the individual status set entry is removed from
IBM Systems Director tasks that might display it; however, future occurrences of
the entry are still tracked and counted by IBM Systems Director.

To delete a status set entry, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and navigate to the type of status set entry that you want to
view:
v To navigate to a hardware or power-related status set entry, click Problems.
The Problems task lists only those elevated status set entries that are problem
status set entries that have been reported to IBM Systems Director Server.
Note that the data listed here is a subset of what is listed on the Active
Status page. From the Problems page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM
Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
v To navigate to all status set entries, including problems, click Active Status.
The Active Status task lists all of the status set entries, including problems
and compliance issues, that have been reported to IBM Systems Director
Server. From the Active Status page, you can navigate to, display, and
manage these status set entries. You can also ignore entries to prevent IBM

266 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Systems Director Server from collecting them or delete the entries to remove
them from the list until they occur again.
A table listing applicable status set entries and information about each entry is
displayed.
2. Select the entry that you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. In the Delete Confirmation window, click Yes.

An entry is deleted for only that instance. If the entry occurs again in the future,
IBM Systems Director will collect it.

Managing the event log


An event is an occurrence of significance to a task or resource. Examples of events
include the completion of an operation, the failure of a hardware component, or
the exceedance of a processor threshold. The Event Log task displays all events
that the management server receives from any resource to which you have
authority to view events.

Viewing events
Use the Event Log task to view events that are stored in the event log. The event
log includes all events that are received by the management server from any
resource to which you have authorization to view events.

You can view all events, events for a specific managed resource or group, or events
that are filtered using a specific criteria.

Note: The event log does not automatically refresh. To refresh the information in
the table, change the event filter or click Refresh.

To view events in the event log, complete the following steps:


1. Open the event log using one of two methods:
Open the event log from the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation
area:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Event Log.
Open the event log from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Event Log.
The event log table is displayed.
2. Click Event Filter and select the filter criteria that you want to use. The default
filter is All Events. The event log displays the events that have been received
by IBM Systems Director Server and that match the filter criteria.

Note: The number of events that are displayed is limited by the event-log
preferences settings. By default, the event log displays the last 500 events that
occurred over the last 24 hours. Use the Event Log Preferences page to change
the event log preferences.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 267


3. View the properties for the event in the table or click the event to view
additional properties and details.

You can use the Delete action to control the events that are displayed.

Deleting an event
You can delete individual events that you do not want IBM Systems Director to
display in the event log.

To delete an event, complete the following steps:


1. Open the event log using one of two methods:
Open the event log from the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation
area:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health and click Event Log.
Open the event log from Navigate Resources:
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Either select a group or drill down to select a resource within a group.
c. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Event Log.
The event log table is displayed.
2. Select the event that you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. In the Delete Confirmation window, click OK.

Changing event log preferences


The Event Log Preferences task is used to configure the options for the events that
are retrieved and displayed in the event log. You can set the number of events that
are retrieved and the duration of time over which those events are retrieved (time
range).

Note: Use the server preferences settings page to set the maximum number of
events that are stored in the management server log file.

To change the event log preferences, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and then click Event Log Preferences. The Event Log Preferences page is
displayed.
2. On the Event Log Preferences page, complete the necessary steps for the
change that you want to make:

268 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 28. Event log actions
To do this task: Complete these steps:
Change the time range of the event log By default, the time range is configured to
include only the last 24 hours of reported
events. You can change the unit of time and
the time range that is used.
1. In the Time Range field, type the
number of units of time.
2. In the Time Range field, select Hours,
Days, or Weeks to indicate how the time
range is measured.
3. Click Apply.
Change the number of events stored in the By default, the event log is configured to
event log retrieve 500 entries.
1. In the Number of entries to retrieve
field, type the maximum number of
entries to retrieve.
2. Click Apply.
Restore the event log preferences to the 1. Click Restore Defaults.
default values

3. When you are finished modifying the event log preferences, click OK.

Creating an event filter from an event


You can create a simple event filter for use in an event automation plan from an
event in the Event Log.

To create an event filter, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand System Status and
Health and click Event Log.
2. In the Events table, select the event that you want to use for an event filter.
3. Click Create Filter. The Create Filter window is displayed. At the bottom of the
window, the selected event type is displayed.
4. In the Event filter name field, type the name for the event filter.
5. Optional: In the Description field, type a description to help you identify this
event filter. The description is displayed in the Event Filter window.
6. Click OK.

When you create an event automation plan in the Event Automation Plan wizard,
on the Events page select Advanced Event Filters from the Events list. the Event
Filters table displays all available event filters, including the one created from the
event log.

Viewing SNMP device attributes


You can use the SNMP Browser task to view the attributes of SNMP devices, for
example, hubs, routers, or other management devices that are compliant with
SNMP. You can use the SNMP Browser for management based on SNMP,
troubleshooting, or monitoring the performance of SNMP devices.

To view SNMP devices, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand System
Status and Health, then click SNMP Browser.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 269


2. In the SNMP Browser window, use the Target field or click Browse to select an
available target. The SNMP Systems table displays entries that represent the
the collection of managed objects in the Management Information Base (MIB)
module.
3. To perform an action on an entry in the table, right-click the entry and select an
action.

The SNMP Systems table displays information about the SNMP resource,
including all the managed objects defined in the MIB module and the MIB itself.
You can inspect the objects or perform actions on them.

Note: To configure your SNMP devices, see “Accessing a secured system with
configure access”.

Managing MIB files


You can import, remove, and compile Management Information Base (MIB) files
for SNMP-compliant resources.

Compiling a MIB file


You can compile Management Information Base (MIB) files that are located on the
IBM Systems Director Server.

The MIB files are located in the install_root\proddata\snmp directory, where


install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director installation. Note that
this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory; depending on the system
that you are using, you might be required to enter the path using the forward
slash (/).

When IBM Systems Director Server starts, it loads a default set of compiled MIB
files that are commonly used. If you have updated the list of MIB files to load,
your most recent selections are loaded.

MIB data is stored in its own persistent-storage file, name.mibdata, where name is
the MIB definition name. These files are located in the install_root\data\snmp
directory. By deleting these files and loadedmibs.dat, you can remove all MIB data
in IBM Systems Director but retain other persistent-storage data.

To compile a MIB file, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and then click Manage MIBs.
2. On the Manage MIBs page, click Import MIB File.
3. On the Import MIB file page, click the File name field or click Browse to search
for an MIB file. (To compile successfully, the MIB file must be located on the
IBM Systems Director Server.)
4. Select the MIB file that you want to import, then click OK. Click Cancel to
close the page without importing a MIB file.

A message displays that indicates whether the compilation was successful. The
message provides a link to view logs.

270 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Loading MIB files into memory
You can load Management Information Base (MIB) files into memory.

To load MIB files into memory, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Settings
and then click Manage MIBs.
2. On the Manage MIB files page, in the Available MIB files list, select the MIB
files that you want to load into memory.
3. Click Add to transfer the selected MIB files to the Loaded MIB files list.
4. When you are satisfied with your settings, click OK to save the settings and
close the page. To save the setting but not close the page, click Apply. To close
the page without saving the settings, click Cancel. To reset the selected MIB
files to the server default MIB installation, click Restore Defaults. You still
must click OK or Apply to save the restored settings.

Managing process monitors


You can use process monitors to generate events when an application process
starts, stops, or fails to start.

Viewing process monitors


You can view a list of the process monitors that exist on a managed system.

To view a list of the process monitors that exist on a managed system, complete
the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the resource for which you want to view the process monitors.
3. Right-click the resource and select System Status and Health > Process
Monitors. The Process Monitors page, which lists all the process monitors
created for the selected resource, is displayed.

Creating and configuring a process monitor


In order to monitor a process, you must create and configure a monitor.

To create and configure a process monitor, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the resource for which you want to create a process monitor.
3. Right-click the resource and select System Status and Health > Process
Monitors. The Process Monitors page, which lists all the process monitors
created for the selected resource, is displayed.
4. On the Process Monitors page, click Create. The Create window is displayed.
5. In the Create window, type the executable file name of the application process
that you want to monitor.
6. Select any combination of the Start, Terminate, and Fail to start after reboot
check boxes, to specify the actions that you want to monitor. Selecting one or
more actions activates the process monitor. A process monitor does nothing
unless you select at least one action.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 271


7. If you select Fail to start after reboot, type a timeout value. This value is the
number of seconds that the process monitor waits for the application process to
start before generating a fail event.
8. Click OK to save the process monitor.

The new process monitor is displayed in the Process Monitors table on the Process
Monitors page.

Removing process monitors


You can remove any number of existing process monitors from a managed
resource.

To remove one or more process monitors from a managed resource, complete the
following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the resource from which you want to remove one or more process
monitors.
3. Right-click the resource and select System Status and Health > Process
Monitors. The Process Monitors page, which lists all the process monitors
created for the selected resource, is displayed.
4. Select one or more process monitors that you want to remove.
5. Click Delete to remove the selected process monitors and any associated
thresholds. A confirmation dialog displays.
6. Click OK. The selected process monitors and any associated thresholds are
removed and no longer appear in the Process Monitors table.

Recording resource-monitor statistics


You can view statistics about critical system resources, such as processor, disk, and
memory by recording resource-monitor statistics. Record resource-monitor statistics
for an individual managed system, multiple systems specified by IP addresses or
host names, or system groups by using the smcli resource-monitor recording
commands.

Use the commands to start or stop recording statistics (resource-monitor values),


and to export recordings to archive or review the statistics. You can export
recordings to a file in text, comma separated values (CSV), HTML, or XML
formats. You can also delete resource-monitor recordings.

Note: Because Systems Director stores the recordings in binary format, you must
use the smcli resource-monitor recording commands to work with the recordings.

lsresmonrec
Use the lsresmonrec command to list information about previously configured
resource-monitor recordings.

mkresmonrec
Use the mkresmonrec command to record resource-monitor values.

rmresmonrec
Use the rmresmonrec command to delete one or more resource-monitor recordings.

272 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


stopresmonrec
Use the stopresmonrec command to stop recording resource-monitor values.

Chapter 5. Monitoring system status and health 273


274 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 6. Automating tasks
By creating event automation plans and applying them to specific systems, you can
automate tasks and other responses to situations that occur in your
systems-management environment. For example, when a specified threshold is
reached or a specified event occurs, you can be notified by e-mail or phone. Or,
you can configure an event automation plan to start a program on a system or
change a system variable when a specific event occurs.

Important: If you are using predefined IBM Systems Director roles, you must have
SMAdministrator authority to use the automation tasks in the IBM Systems
Director Web interface.

IBM Systems Director provides the Event Automation Plan wizard as a quick and
simple way to create event automation plans that meet most systems-management
needs. Using the Event Automation Plan wizard, you can create plans that monitor
for the most typical situations in systems-management environments, including,
but not limited to, the following examples:
v Critical hardware events from all systems in your environment
v Processor (CPU) use in a specific group of systems, such as all servers running
Linux
v All Common Agent managed systems to determine whether Common Agent
goes offline
v The status of updates that are underway
v Disk space use in systems, such as those that store database data
Then, in response to the situations that you are monitoring, you can choose to send
a page or e-mail, or you can start a program on a system. For more information
about creating event automation plans and using the Event Automation Plan
wizard, see “Creating an event automation plan.”

The Event Automation Plan wizard also provides advanced event actions and
event filter options that you can use to create event automation plans that can
meet very specific needs in your systems-management environment.

Successful implementation of event automation plans requires planning and


consideration of how you will implement them. Providing thoughtful descriptions
for your event automation plans can be particularly helpful. For more information,
see “Planning for event automation plan implementations.”

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 275


Related concepts

eLearning: Automating tasks


Related tasks
“Creating an event automation plan” on page 295
Related reference

Planning for events

Event and event automation plan commands

Events, filters, and actions in event automation plans


An event automation plan is composed of two components: a filter that specifies
types of events; and one or more actions, which are invoked in response to filtered
events. The Event Automation Plan wizard provides a quick and easy way to
create event automation plans for common situations. If you want to create
sophisticated event automation plans, it is important to understand the events that
are generated in a systems-management environment, the event filters that specify
the triggering events, and the event actions that can automate a response to the
triggering event.

When you create an event automation plan, you include a filter and one or more
actions. Finally, you apply the event automation plan to an individual system,
several systems, or a group of systems.

Events
An event is an occurrence of significance to a task or system, such as the
completion or failure of an operation. In a systems-management environment, IBM
Systems Director Server receives events from many sources.

These sources include, but are not limited to, the following programs and
protocols:
v Systems Director Program native events generated by the management server.
v IBM Systems Director native events generated by Common Agent. For more
information, see “Common Agent.”
v Common Information Model (CIM) indications from the Common Information
Model Object Manager (CIMOM) that is installed as part of Common Agent and
Platform Agent.
v Microsoft Windows event log.
v Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
v SNMP traps through out-of-band communication, that is, communication that is
not through Common Agent or Platform Agent.
v Platform Event Traps (PET) through out-of-band communication with systems
that support Alert Standard Format (ASF) and Intelligent Platform Management
Interface (IPMI).
v Service processor notifications through out-of-band communication.

Alerts and resolutions

In IBM Systems Director, an event can be in one of the following categories: alert
and resolution. Typically, an alert is the occurrence of a problem relating to a
system. A resolution is the occurrence of a correction or solution to a problem.

276 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Event filters”
“Event actions” on page 280
Related reference

CIM indications in IBM Systems Director

Event filters
A filter specifies one or more events that you want your event automation plan to
process. The event automation plan ignores any event instances that do not meet
the specifications of the filter. Typically, you will use the common event filters that
are provided in the Event Automation Plan wizard. Occasionally there are
situations where you will want to create a sophisticated event filter. The event
filters described in this section are available for such implementations. Using these
filters, you can specify details for an event such that it covers very specific
problems and occurrences. To create filters quickly, default values are provided;
however, you can customize the settings.

You can use a filter to capture a single event or multiple events. When designing
an event filter, first determine whether the following criteria are met:
v Can all the target systems generate all the events that you want to filter?
If a system cannot generate the event that you want to filter, the filter will not be
effective on that system. In such instances, you can apply the event automation
plan to those systems, but it will have no effect. For example, if an event filter is
based on an event for BladeCenter products and that event automation plan is
applied to systems that do not include BladeCenter products, the event filter has
no events to filter, and therefore, no actions are performed. If you understand
this concept, you can create more complex event automation plans, and you can
reduce the number of event automation plans you must build and maintain.
v Can you use the same event actions for all targeted systems to respond to the
event?
v Are the other filter options besides the event type common for all targeted
systems? These settings include the number of times the filter is active, the
severity of the event, and other attributes.

In addition to selecting the event types to filter, you also can select from four types
of event filters: Simple, Duplication, Exclusion, and Threshold. Each filter offers
different options for processing the selected event types.
Related concepts
“Events” on page 276
“Event actions” on page 280

Events that are available for filtering


Using the Event Automation Plan wizard you can select from commonly used sets
of events. Occasionally, you might need to create a filter using specialized events.
The Event Automation Plan wizard provides a means to do this also. All currently
available event types are displayed in the tree on the Event Type page in the Event
Filter Builder window, except for the IBM i message queue events. The Event Type
page provides a way to specify the IBM i message queue events without using the
tree.

The default installation of IBM Systems Director and its default plug-ins publish
their events in the Event Type tree when one of the following software starts:

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 277


v IBM Systems Director Server
v Common Agent
v Platform Agent

However, optional plug-ins might vary in whether the events are published when
one of these software starts. When the events are published depends on how the
optional plug-ins are implemented.

If you add a plug-in to your IBM Systems Director installation, the plug-in might
publish its events either when it is added to the installation or when the plug-in
sends its first event. If the plug-in publishes when it sends its first event, only that
event is published.

Note: Events from the Windows event log are displayed in the Windows event log
tree in the Event Type Filter Builder. Events from WMI are displayed in the
Common Information Model (CIM) tree.

Simple event filter


Simple event filters are general-purpose filters; most event automation plans use a
simple event filter.

In addition to any simple event filters that you create, IBM Systems Director
provides the following predefined, read-only simple event filters in the Event
Filters page.

Note: You cannot change predefined event filters; they are read-only. However,
you can copy a predefined filter and change the copy. For more information, see
“Copying an event filter.”
All events
Processes any events that occur on any system, except for
Windows-specific and IBM i-specific events.
Common Agent offline
Processes only those events that are generated by the Common Agent
when it goes offline
Critical events
Processes only those events that have a Critical severity.
Disk Use
Processes only those events that are generated when the currently available
hard disk space in a system changes with respect to availability.
Environmental sensor events
Processes only those events that are associated with the condition of a
system environment, such as voltage and temperature.
Fatal events
Processes only those events that have a Fatal severity.
Hardware Predictive Failure Analysis events
Processes only those events that are generated when a Predictive Failure
Analysis is detected for a hardware component.
Informational events
Processes only those events that have a Informational severity.
Memory use
Processes only those events that are generated when the currently available
memory in a system changes with respect to availability.
Minor events
Processes only those events that have a Minor severity.

278 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Processor use
Processes only those events that are generated when the state of a
processor (CPU) has changed.
Security events
Processes only those events that are generated by specific security
protocols, for example, log on failed due to an undefined user ID, or
incorrect or expired password.
Storage events
Processes only those events that are generated by storage components,
such as RAID configurations, for example, when creating, modifying, or
destroying a storage volume or storage pool.
Unknown events
Processes only those events that have a Unknown severity.
Warning events
Processes only those events that have a Warning severity.

Some of these predefined filters use the severity of events to determine which
events can pass through; other filters target a specific type of event. Using one of
these predefined event filters ensures that the correct event type or event severity
is selected.
Related tasks
“Copying an event filter” on page 321
“Viewing predefined filter criteria” on page 322

Duplication event filter


In addition to the options that are available in the simple filters, duplication event
filters ignore duplicate events.

You can use this filter in two ways: with or without specifying the number of times
to ignore an event (Count).

To specify only a time range (Interval), the Count setting must be set to zero
(Count = 0). The first occurrence of an event that meets the filter criteria triggers
associated actions and starts a countdown of the interval. For example, if you
specify a 10-second interval, a 10-second timer starts when an event meets the
filtering criteria. Because Count is set to 0, all other instances of an event that
meets the criteria do not trigger associated actions during the interval.

If you also specify a number of times to ignore an event (Count), it applies within
the specified time range (Interval). After the first occurrence of an event that meets
the filtering criteria, the Count setting specifies the number of times an event must
meet the criteria again before associated actions are triggered.

For example, if you set Count to 9, an event meeting the criteria is allowed to
occur nine times within the interval. When an event meets the criteria for a tenth
time within the interval, the associated actions are triggered, the count is reset, and
the interval is reset.

For the duplication filter to trigger the associated event actions a second time, the
count must be exceeded within the reset interval. For example, if Count = 3 and
Interval = 5 minutes, the event action is invoked for the fourth occurrence of the
event that occurs within 5 minutes. Then, the count and interval are reset. A fourth
occurrence of the event must occur in a 5-minute interval again.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 279


This filter is useful in managing the processing of frequently generated events. For
example, you can define a duplication filter to filter on the occurrence of an offline
event and define a corresponding event action to forward the event to IBM
Systems Director Server. Depending on the criteria that you define, only the first
event announcing that the system is offline is processed, and all other instances in
which an event meets the filtering criteria are discarded until the Count value is
exceeded during the specified interval.

Exclusion event filter


In addition to the simple filter options, exclusion event filters exclude certain event
types. Using this filter, you define the criteria of the events to exclude. You can use
this filter to activate a group of events and then exclude some of the events in that
group.

This filter type is useful when you want to create a filter based on a severity or a
category of events, but you want to exclude some specific event types. Instead of
creating event filters for each event that you want to include, you can specify the
event types that you want to exclude. By using exclusion event filters, it is easier
to remove events that you do not want to monitor.

For example, using this filter type you can monitor the Windows Security event
log events, but exclude security alerts 528, 551, and 552.

Threshold event filter


In addition to the simple filter options, a threshold event filter processes an event
after it has occurred a specified number of times within a specified interval.

An event triggers associated actions if, within the specified interval, the event
occurs the number of times specified in the Count field.

For example, you can define a threshold filter to monitor frequently occurring
heartbeat events and forward the event to IBM Systems Director Server only when
the heartbeat event is received for the 100th time during a specified amount of
time. Count is set to 100 and Interval is set to 5 minutes. When the specified event
is received for the 100th time within 5 minutes, the event actions are invoked, and
the Count and Interval settings are reset. To invoke the event actions a second
time, the specified event must be received 100 times within an interval of 5
minutes again. If only 90 events are received within the 5 minutes, the Count and
Interval settings are reset.

Another example is to create a threshold filter such that, if a user attempts to log
on with a bad password five times within five minutes, the event automation plan
will trigger associated event actions.

Event actions
Event actions specify the action that IBM Systems Director takes in response to a
specific event or events. Using the Event Automation Plan wizard, you can easily
create an event automation plan that will send you an e-mail or pager notification
in response to an event. Additionally, the Event Automation Plan wizard provides
other advanced event actions that you can use in response to an event.

IBM Systems Director has several predefined types of event actions. With the
exception of “Add to the event log”, you must customize each action that you
want to use.

280 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: When you upgrade from previous versions of IBM Director to IBM Systems
Director 6.1 or later, the following event actions will no longer be supported:
v Add a message to the console ticker tape
v Send a message to a management console user

If you migrate an event action plan from IBM Director, version 5.20 or earlier, to
IBM Systems Director 6.1 or later, these actions will be removed from the event
automation plan. If the resulting event automation plan has no event actions
remaining, the plan will be in a deactivated state.
Related tasks
“Creating an event action” on page 308
“Editing an event action” on page 309
“Copying an event action” on page 309
“Deleting an event action” on page 310
“Saving and not saving an event-action history” on page 311
“Viewing an event-action history” on page 311
“Viewing event action properties” on page 314

Log to a log file


Logs information about the triggering event to a specified text file.
Requirements
None
Result The specified text is added to the log file. Also, applicable attributes of the
event are also logged, for example, severity, event type, date, time, and IP
address of the affected system. You can specify the filename and file
extension of the log file, as well as its maximum file size. If the log file
reaches its specified maximum size, it is renamed to filename.1, where
filename is the file name that you specified. Then, a new filename.extension
file is created, where extension is the file extension that you specified for
the log file. The log file is located on the management server in the
install_root\log directory, where install_root is the root directory of your
IBM Systems Director installation. Note that this path uses the backslash
(\) to delimit the directory; depending on the system that you are using,
you might be required to enter the path using the forward slash (/).
Example
Use this event action when you want to log information in a file after a
specified event is generated. You can log the following information:
v Standard information from the event.
v Custom information that you specify.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables in the Log comment


field field. For more information, see “Event-data-substitution
variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Modify an event and send it


Resends the event that originally triggered the event automation plan. Before
resending the event, the action modifies the event data, such as its text and
severity, to your specification.
Requirements
None

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 281


Result The triggering event and the event that this event action generates are both
logged in the Event Log. The event that this event action generates
contains the text and event type from the original triggering event.
Example
Use this event action when you want to send a secondary event that
contains information from the first event. You can change or add to the
event text. Also, you can change the event severity; for some events, this
capability is useful when you want to increase the severity level.
For example, by default an Topology Offline event has a severity of
informational. If you have created an event automation plan to filter
critical events and you want the Topology Offline event to be treated as
such, you can use this event action to change the severity of this event.
Create a simple filter for the Topology Offline event. Then, use the Modify
an event and send it event action to resend the event, but change the
severity to critical in the New event severity field. Now, the critical event
filter will catch the event and the event automation plan will perform the
prescribed action.

Note: You can use event-data-substitution variables to include event-data


information into the new event text. For more information, see
“Event-data-substitution variables.” The detail slot setting also accepts
event-data-substitution variables; however, using event-data-substitution
variables in the detail slot setting can cause errors if not done correctly.
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Post to a newsgroup (NNTP)


Posts a message to a newsgroup used by your organization. The newsgroup must
use Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) to send and receive information.
Requirements
Newsgroup service must be available.

Note: You cannot use this action to post a message to a secure news
server.
Result The specified message is posted to the newsgroup.
Example
This action can be useful as an additional logging mechanism outside of
IBM Systems Director. Use this event action when you want to send
information to a newsgroup after a specified event is generated. The
message might notify members of a technical support organization when a
critical server is having problems.

Note: You can use event-data-substitution variables to include event data


information into the newsgroup message. For more information, see
“Event-data-substitution variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Send a numeric page


(Windows only) Sends a numeric-only message to the specified pager.

Note: If you want to include a text message in the page and your pager supports
alphanumeric pages, use the Send an alphanumeric page (using TAP) event action.

282 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Requirements
This event action has the following requirements:
v The management server must be running the Windows operating
system.
v Pager network service must be available.
v The management server must have access to a modem.
Result The specified number is paged and receives the numeric message.
Example
Use this event action when you want to send a pager notification to
someone. For example, if the processor use reaches 90% on a server
running critical Web applications, you might want to send a pager
notification to the server administrator so that person is aware of the
problem and can handle the problem immediately.

Send a Tivoli Enterprise Console event


If IBM Systems Director Server receives an event, you can forward that event to a
specified Tivoli Enterprise Console® event server.
Requirements
This event action requires that Tivoli Enterprise Console server is installed
on the specified system.
Result The specified Tivoli Enterprise Console server receives an IBM Systems
Director event in the Tivoli Enterprise Console event format.

Note: If the Tivoli Enterprise Console server is unavailable, the Tivoli


Enterprise Console events are queued and delivered when the Tivoli
Enterprise Console server becomes available.
Example
When IBM Systems Director Server receives an event, you might want to
forward the event to a Tivoli Enterprise Console server.

Send an alphanumeric page (using TAP)


(Windows only) Sends a message to a pager using the Telocator Alphanumeric
Protocol (TAP).
Requirements
This event action has the following requirements:
v The management server must be running the Windows operating
system.
v Pager network service must be available.
v The management server must have access to a modem.
Result The specified number is paged and receives the alphanumeric message.
Example
Use this event action to send a message to service personnel when a
printer jams and fails.

Note: You can use event-data-substitution variables to include event data


information into the alphanumeric message. For more information, see
“Event-data-substitution variables.”

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 283


Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314
Related tasks
“Testing an event action” on page 310

Send an Internet (SMTP) e-mail


Sends a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) e-mail message. You also can send a
message to an e-mail enabled phone. Using this action, you can send more text
than when using Send an e-mail to a mobile phone.

Note: This event action can send e-mail messages to Lotus Notes® IDs.
Requirements
If you are concerned about the availability of the internal mail server,
consider using an outside SMTP provider.
Result The specified e-mail address receives the e-mail message.
Example
Use this event action to send a message to administrators that need to
track the status of a group of servers.

Note: You can use event-data-substitution variables to include event data


information in the subject and body of the e-mail message. For more
information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314
Related tasks
“Testing an event action” on page 310

Send an e-mail to a mobile phone


Sends an e-mail message to a mobile phone. The e-mail message is shortened to
accommodate the limited display screen of a mobile phone. Using this action, you
can send less text than when using Send an e-mail (Internet SMTP) .
Requirements
This event action has the following requirements:
v The management server must be running Windows, AIX, or Linux.
v The mobile phone must be able to receive text messages.
Result The specified mobile phone receives the e-mail message. If you specified a
message body, that is all that the mobile phone receives. If you did not
specify a message body, the mobile phone receives the text of the
triggering event.
Example
Use this event action to send an e-mail message to service personnel when
a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) configuration fails.

Note: You can use event-data-substitution variables to include event data


information in the subject and body of the e-mail message. For more
information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”

284 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314
Related tasks
“Testing an event action” on page 310

Send an event to Tivoli Event Integration Facility probe


If IBM Systems Director Server receives an event, you can forward that event to a
specified Tivoli Event Integration Facility (EIF) probe.
Requirements
This event action requires that you have Tivoli Event Integration Facility
(EIF) probe installed on the specified system.
Result The specified EIF probe receives an IBM Systems Director event in the
Tivoli Event Integration Facility event format. The event includes the
following extra tokens:
source_moid
This token has a value of the managed object identifier (MOID) for
the source event system. For example, an IBM Director Server,
called dirserverA, discovers an IBM Director Agent, called
diragentB. When the events from diragentB occur, the source_moid
is the MOID of diragentB.

Note: For out-of-bind events, the system that is the source of the
events has no MOID.
source_app
This token has a value of “IBM_DIRECTOR”, which means that the
source application is IBM Systems Director.
source_app_version
This token has a value that corresponds to the version of IBM
Director Server that is currently installed.
managed_object_type
This token has a value that corresponds to the type of managed
object (in this case, the component type) that is associated with the
type of source event. Some examples of managed objects:
v managed_object_type="BCChassis"
v managed_object_type="UPD"
v managed_object_type="Fan"
http_port
This token has a value of an HTTP port number, such as
http_port=8421.
https_port
This token has a value of an HTTP secure port number, such as
https_port=8422.

Note: Note: If the EIF probe is unavailable, the Tivoli Event Integration
Facility events are queued and delivered when the probe becomes
available.
Example
When IBM Systems Director Server receives an event, you can forward the
event to a Tivoli Business Service Manager (TBSM) by using the EIF probe.
The event action sends the event to the probe. Then, the probe forwards

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 285


the event to Tivoli OMNIBus, and TBSM pulls the event from OMNIBus.
Any products that work with EIF probe can process the event action, so
TBSM represents only one potential consumer of this event action.

Note: OMNIBus is a prerequisite for running TBSM. You can install


OMNIBus as part of TBSM, and TBSM customers have the option of
connecting to an existing copy of OMNIBus.

Send an SNMP INFORM request to an IP host


Sends an SNMP INFORM request to a specified IP address or host name. SNMP
INFORM is a special version of an SNMP trap with a response from a destination.
Requirements
This event action requires that an SNMP agent that can receive an SNMP
INFORM be installed on the specified system.
Result The specified system receives an SNMP INFORM.
Example
An SNMP INFORM is a type of SNMP communication. You can use this
event action to send an SNMP INFORM in response to the triggering
event. Typically, an SNMP INFORM is used for manager-to-manager
communication as a means of acknowledging receipt of a notification.
If you use SNMP to monitor your systems, use this action to send specified
critical events as SNMP INFORM notifications to your SNMP monitor. If
the SNMP INFORM is not received, the action completion status is set to
Failed and IBM Systems Director Server will know whether the SNMP
INFORM was delivered successfully.

Send an SNMP trap reliably to a NetView host


Generates an SNMP trap and sends it to a specified NetView® host using a TCP/IP
connection to the host. If delivery of the SNMP trap fails, a message is posted in
the history log of the system.
Requirements
The NetView product must be installed on the specified system.
Result The specified NetView system receives the SNMP trap. If delivery of the
SNMP trap fails, a message is written to the specified system's history log.
The failure information can be retrieved from the management server
system log using the lsevtacthist command-line command. For more
information, see “lsevtacthist command.”
Example
If you are using the NetView product to monitor your systems, use this
event action to send or reroute specific events from IBM Systems Director
Server to your NetView host. Then, you can view these specific events on
your NetView console.
Related reference

lsevtacthist command

Send an SNMP trap to an IP host


Generates an SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c trap and sends it to a specified IP address or
host name.
Requirements
This event action requires that SNMP agent be available on the specified
system to receive the traps.

286 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Result The specified system receives an SNMP trap.
Example
If you use an SNMP application to monitor your systems-management
environment, you can use this action to send the events from IBM Systems
Director as traps to the SNMP application. If your systems-management
environment includes several installations of IBM Systems Director Server,
you can use this event action to configure each instance of IBM Systems
Director Server to send the events as traps to the SNMP application such
that the traps are consolidated in the SNMP application. In the SNMP
application, an administrator can view all of the events from all of the IBM
Systems Director Server installations.

Set an event system variable


Sets a user-defined system variable to a new value or resets the value of an
existing system variable. IBM Systems Director provides user-defined system
variables to help you test and track the status of network resources according to
the needs of your organization. System variable names and values can be
referenced wherever event data substitution is allowed.

Note: This event action affects an IBM Systems Director-provided, user-defined


system variable, not an operating-system variable.
Requirements
None
Result The specified variable and value are added to the EventSysVar.prop file.
This file is located on the management server in the install_root\data
directory, where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems
Director installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit
the directory; depending on the system that you are using, you might be
required to enter the path using the forward slash (/).
Example
Assume that you need to monitor a bottleneck in the network that can
cause network congestion. You can create an event automation plan to
specify an SNMP event that indicates network congestion, and initiate the
Set Event System Variable task when the event occurs. Assume that you
have specified the following settings:
v System variable name field: NetStatus
v New value field: Congested
v Reset value to use IBM Systems Director Server when restarts field:
Normal
v Time until automatic value reset field: 10
If 10 seconds elapse before IBM Systems Director Server receives the event
that triggers this action or before IBM Systems Director Server stops and
restarts, the NetStatus system variable is reset to normal.
Instead of using a specific event that signals that your NetStatus is
Normal, you have used a system variable that automatically resets to
normal when the events that cause this action to trigger are not received
within the interval. If IBM Systems Director Server continues to receive the
events before the interval expires, this action continues to trigger, signaling
that the network is congested. If the timer interval expires, NetStatus is
reset to Normal.

Note: You can use event-data-substitution variables to include event-data


information in the System variable name, New value, and the Reset value
Chapter 6. Automating tasks 287
to use IBM Systems Director Server when restarts fields of this event
action. For more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Start a program on a system


Starts a program on a specified system. Programs can include command-line
commands that can start or stop programs on the system.
Requirements
This event action requires that the specified system have Common Agent
installed.
Result The program is started on the specified system.
Example
You can create an event automation plan that detects a critical Ambient
Temperature threshold event from Active Energy Manager on a system
running Windows 2003. Using this action, you can start the shutdown.exe
program on other systems in the same location that are running operating
systems that Active Energy Manager does not support, such asWindows
Vista.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables in the Program file


name field. For more information, see "Event-data-substitution variables."
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314
Related tasks
“Testing an event action” on page 310

Start a program on the management server


In response to an event, starts a program on the management server (the system
running IBM Systems Director Server) that received the event. Programs can
include command-line commands that can start or stop programs on the system.
Requirements
None
Result The program is started on the management server that is processing the
event and invoking the event automation plan.
Example
If your management server is configured with an audio card, you can start
an audio player and play a specified file to alert a technician about a
critical event. This implementation can be useful in large rooms with many
servers.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables in the Program file


name field. For more information, see "Event-data-substitution variables."

288 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314
Related tasks
“Testing an event action” on page 310

Start a program on the system that generated the event


Starts a program on the system that generated the event that triggered the event
automation plan. Programs can include command-line commands that can start or
stop programs on the system.
Requirements
This event action requires that the specified system have Common Agent
installed.
Result The program is started on the specified system.
Example
You might use the dakill.exe program that is provided with IBM Systems
Director, located in the support directory. You can use this program to stop
processes by providing the process name.
For example, if you want to stop the solitaire.exe program, you can create
an event automation plan using this event action and combine it with a
process monitor configured to generate an event when solitaire.exe starts
and the event automation plan will stop the solitaire.exe process on that
system.

Note: You cannot test this event action before including it in an event
automation plan. The Test menu item under the template menu is not
supported by this action.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables in the Program file


name field. For more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Start a task on a specified system


Starts a noninteractive IBM Systems Director task on a specified system.
Noninteractive tasks are tasks that do not require user input.
Requirements
This event action has the following requirements:
v The specified task must be a noninteractive task.
v The task that you want to use must be available in the IBM Systems
Director Web interface before you can specify the task for this action.

Important: Some tasks have hardware or software requirements and


cannot be performed on a given system. Give careful consideration to an
event automation plan that uses this event action before associating it with
a given system or group. For example, not all power management
commands are available. For more information, see “Power On/Off task
support for IBM Power systems,” “Power management support for IBM
BladeCenter and System x servers,” and “Power On/Off task support for
System z servers.”
Result The task is started on the specified system.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 289


Example
Consider an environment where you have two physical systems and one of
the physical system is running three virtual servers. You can create an
event automation plan that detects a critical Predictive Failure Analysis
(PFA) event on a physical system. Using this action, you can run a
previously created noninteractive task that migrates the running workload
of the virtual servers hosted on the affected physical server to the second
physical server.

Note: You can create noninteractive tasks using the Command Automation
task.
Related tasks
“Testing an event action” on page 310

Start a task on the system that generated the event


Starts a noninteractive IBM Systems Director task on the system that generated the
event. Noninteractive tasks are tasks that do not require user input.
Requirements
This event action has the following requirements:
v The specified task must be a noninteractive task.
v The task that you want to use must be available in the IBM Systems
Director Web interface before you can specify the task for this action.

Important: Some tasks have hardware or software requirements and


cannot be performed on a given system. Give careful consideration to an
event automation plan that uses this event action before associating it with
a given system or group. For example, not all power management
commands are available. For more information, see “Power On/Off task
support for IBM Power systems,” “Power management support for IBM
BladeCenter and System x servers,” and “Power On/Off task support for
System z servers.”
Result The task is started on the system that generated the event.
Example
You can create an event automation plan to monitor systems for hardware
problems and, when the event automation plan detects a hardware
problem, you can set the locator LED on that system to flash using this
event action.

Note: You cannot test this event action before including it in an event
automation plan. The Test menu item under the template menu is not
supported by this action.

Static group: add or remove group members


Adds a defined set of systems to a specified static group or removes a defined set
of systems from the specified static group. Use this event action to initialize a set
of systems to process. Then the processing is triggered by an event that you
specify in your event filter.
Requirements
Both the source and target groups must be static groups.
Result The group member that generated the event is added to the specified static
group or removed from a specified static group, as applicable.
Example
Use this action to track systems that have been processed. When the

290 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


specified event is received, this event action moves a defined set of
systems to a static group. Then, as each system is processed, the system is
removed from the static group using the Static group: add or remove the
event-generating system event action.
For example, create a static group that contains all the systems that require
updating. After each system is updated, an event is generated. That event
can trigger this event action to remove the updated system from the static
group. When there are no more systems in the static group, you know all
systems have been updated.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables for the target group
name or the new group name. For example, you can dynamically set the
target group to the static group that contains the system that generated the
event. For more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Static group: add or remove the event-generating system


Adds the system that generated the event to a specified static group or removes
the system that generated the event from a specified static group, as applicable.
Requirements
Both the source and target groups must be static groups.
Result The system that generated the event is added to the specified static group
or removed from a specified static group, as applicable.
Example
You can use this event action to track systems for which IBM Systems
Director has processed an event. As a system generates the event that you
specified, that system is moved to a static group. Then, you can view the
members of that static group to see which system has generated the event.
Similarly, as a system generates the event that you specified, that system
can be removed from a static group.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables for the target group
name or the new group name. For example, you can dynamically set the
target group to the static group that contains the system that generated the
event. For more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Timed alarm that generates an event


Generates a defined alarm event only if IBM Systems Director does not receive a
specified event within a specified time range. This event action is useful for
monitoring for a loss of function, much like a heartbeat monitor.
Requirements
None
Result An event triggers an event automation plan that contains this event action.
The action is invoked and it starts a timer. If another event of the same
type is received before the timer expires, nothing further happens.
However, if the timer does expire, an alarm event is generated by this
action.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 291


Example
You can use this action to make sure that something happens repeatedly or
within a given amount of time. After the timer expires and the alarm event
is sent, the monitoring process of this event action stops.

Note: In IBM Systems Director, versions 6.1.x and 6.2.x, when the
associated event is not received within the specified interval, the alarm
triggers the action only one time or generates only one event. This
behavior is different than in IBM Director 5.x, where the alarm continually
triggers the action during the specified interval until the event associated
with the action is received.
For example, you can monitor Common Agent to go offline on a system. If
Common Agent does not return online within a given amount of time, you
can power off that system.

Note: You also can stop the monitoring process by setting the timer value
to 0. This capability is useful if you want to stop the process without
deleting the event action or the event automation plan.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables in the following fields:


Timed alarm ID, Program file name, and Working directory. For more
information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Timed alarm that starts a program


Starts a specified program only if IBM Systems Director does not receive a
specified event within a specified time range. This event action is useful for
monitoring for a loss of function, much like a heartbeat monitor.
Requirements
None
Result An event triggers an event automation plan that contains this event action.
The action is invoked and it starts a timer. If another event of the same
type is received before the timer expires, nothing further happens.
However, if the timer does expire, this action starts a specified program on
the management server.
Example
You can use this action to make sure that something happens repeatedly or
within a given amount of time. After the timer expires and the program is
started, the monitoring process of this event action stops.
For example, you can monitor for a system to go offline. If the system does
not return online within a given amount of time, you can failover to a
backup system.

Note: You also can stop the monitoring process by setting the timer value
to 0. This capability is useful if you want to stop the process without
deleting the event action or the event automation plan.

Tip: You can use event-data-substitution variables in the following fields:


Timed alarm ID, Program file name, and Working directory. For more
information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”

292 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Monitoring operating-system specific events


If you want to monitor Windows-specific or IBM i-specific events in the IBM
Systems Director environment, you must create an event automation plan in order
for IBM Systems Director to process these events. The predefined active event
automation plan in IBM Systems Director, Log All Events, does not monitor these
operating-system specific events.

Systems running Windows or IBM i can generate the following operating-specific


events.

Windows-specific event v Windows event log


types v Windows services
v Windows registry
IBM i-specific event types v Msgq

Even though these events are generated by their respective operating systems (or
an optional layer that is installed on the operating system), IBM Systems Director
does not process these events unless you create an event automation plan to do so.
When you install IBM Systems Director, it has one predefined active event
automation plan: Log All Events. However, this event automation plan does not
log these Windows-specific or IBM i-specific events. You must create an event
automation plan with a simple-event filter that contains the event types for one or
more of these events. Then, you must apply this event automation plan to the
systems running Windows or IBM i.

When Common Agent starts on a system running Windows, the twgescli.exe


program starts, too. This program listens for IBM Systems Director Server to send a
message to Common Agent that an event automation plan has been applied to that
system. If the event automation plan includes a simple-event filter that contains the
event types for any of the Windows-specific events, IBM Systems Director
appropriates these events for its own use. This is called event subscription. The
twgescli.exe program subscribes to the event types that are specified in the event
automation plan and translates the Windows-specific events into an IBM Systems
Director event type. Then, the program forwards the events to the management
server from which the event automation plan was applied.

When IBM Systems Director starts on a system running IBM i, the process is the
same with comparable code to twgescli.exe that is included in IBM Systems
Director for IBM i.

Viewing the automation manager summary


You can view a summary of activity within the past 30 days that is associated with
automation, including event automation plans, scheduled and run jobs, event
management and Event Log, a list of systems with the most critical and warning
events, and a list of the most frequent received critical and warning events. Note
that information on this page is refreshed automatically when there are any
changes.

To view the automation summary, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 293


2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab.
3. On the Manage page, scroll to the Automation portion of the page and click the
Automation Manager section heading. The Automation manager summary for
the past 30 days is displayed.
4. View the Scheduled Jobs section. This section provides the following
information:
v The number of active scheduled jobs.
v The number of job activations that have completed successfully.
v The number of job activations that have failed.
v Up to three upcoming jobs that will run next. If more than one job will run
at the same time, all affected jobs are displayed.
v Up to three of the most recently run jobs. If more than one job ran at the
same time, all affected jobs are displayed.
v In the Job management area, a link to the Active and scheduled jobs page.
Using the Active and scheduled jobs page, you can create or edit jobs, view
job information, view job instance information, suspend and resume jobs,
and more.
5. View the Systems with the Most Frequent Critical or Warning Events section.
This section provides the following information:
v The five systems that have generated the most events with the following
event severities: fatal, critical, or warning. If there are more than five systems
that have generated the same number events, an ellipse (...) displayed
indicate that there are more systems.
v In the Event management area, a link to the Event log task page. On this
page you can view events that IBM Systems Director Server has received
along with event information that can help you troubleshoot problems in
your systems-management environment.
6. View the Most Frequent Critical or Warning Events section. This section lists
the five event types that have been generated the most with the event severity
of fatal, critical, or warning. If there are more than five event types that have
been generated in the same number of severities, an ellipse (...) displayed
indicate that there are more event types.
7. View the Event Automation Plans section. This section provides the following
information:
v The number of active event automation plans.
v The number of inactive event automation plans.
v In the Plan management area, the following links are provided:
Event automation plans
Use the Event Automation Plans page to create and work with event
automation plans.
Event actions
Use the Event Actions page to create and work with event actions
that specify the action to automate when an event automation plan is
triggered.
Event filters
Use the Event Filters page to create and work with event filters that
determine which events trigger an event automation plan.

You also can reach the summary page by using Find a Task. For more information,
see “Finding a task.”

294 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Managing event automation plans
Use event automation plans to automate tasks in your system-management
environment. These plans are composed of event filters and event actions. The
plans are triggered by events. You can create, copy, edit, deactivate, activate, and
delete event automation plans. Also, you can view the Automation summary page.
Related concepts

eLearning: Creating basic event automation plans

eLearning: Creating advanced event automation plans


Related tasks
“Monitoring for IBM i message queue events” on page 510
Related reference

Event automation plan commands

Exporting event automation plans (lsevtautopln command)

Generating events for testing purposes (genevent command)

Copying an event automation plan


Copy an event automation plan when you want to create a plan that is similar to a
preexisting plan.

To copy an event automation plan, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, select the event automation plan that you
want to copy.
3. Click Create Like.
4. On the Name and description page, type a new descriptive name for the event
automation plan that you are creating. Optionally, you also can type a
description of the plan. Click Next.
5. In the Event Automation Plan wizard, navigate to the pages that you want to
edit and make your changes.
6. On the Summary page, verify the details of the event automation plan. If you
need to make changes, click < Back.
7. When you are done editing the event automation plan, click Finish.

The event automation plan is saved and is displayed on the Event Automation
Plans page.
Related reference

mkevtautopln command

Creating an event automation plan


Create an event automation plan to automatically respond to a situation in your
IBM Systems Director environment. By creating event automation plans and
applying them to specific systems, you can be notified by e-mail or pager, for

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 295


example, when a specified threshold is reached or a specified event occurs. Or, you
can configure an event automation plan to start a program on a system in response
to the event.
Related tasks
“Monitoring for IBM i message queue events” on page 510
Related reference

mkevtautopln command

Beginning an event automation plan


Begin an event automation plan by giving it a name and identifying the systems
that you want the plan to monitor for specific events.

To create and begin an event automation plan, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, click Create.
3. In the Event Automation Plan wizard, the Welcome page is displayed. Click
Next.
4. On the Name and description page, type a descriptive name for the event
automation plan that you are creating. Optionally, you also can type a
description of the plan. Click Next.
5. On the Targets page, select the systems that the event automation plan will
monitor for specific generated events. Select the systems in the Available list
and click Add > to move them to the Selected list. Click Next.

Selecting the events that trigger an event action


The event automation plan uses event filters to monitor for the occurrence of one
or more specified events. When these events occur, your event automation plan
responds with one or more customized event actions.

The types of events that you can select and the ways that you can filter events are
broadly divided between the following categories:
v Common event filters
v Advanced event filters

Common event filters are predefined simple filters that monitor for events of
common interest in systems management. For example, the Disks event filter is
triggered by any hard disk events and the Fans event filter is triggered by any fan
events. The Event Automation Plan wizard provides several common event filters
so you can create typically required event automation plans quickly and easily. For
more information about event filters, see “Event filters.”

If you want to monitor specific events that are not included in the common event
filters, then you must select advanced event filters. You also can create more
sophisticated event filters that are triggered when duplicates of an event are
received, when events occur a specific number times over a range of time, or when
a specific event is received but you want to exclude another event. For information
about specifying specific events, see “Selecting specific events for filtering.” For
more information about event filters, see “Event filters.”

296 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Event filters” on page 277
“Events that are available for filtering” on page 277
“Simple event filter” on page 278
“Duplication event filter” on page 279
“Exclusion event filter” on page 280
“Threshold event filter” on page 280
Related tasks
“Selecting common categories of events for filtering”
“Selecting specific events for filtering” on page 303
“Monitoring for IBM i message queue events” on page 510

Selecting common categories of events for filtering:

You can select the events that you want to filter. When these events occur, your
event automation plan can respond with one or more customized event actions.
Common event filters are predefined simple filters that monitor for events of
common interest in systems management. For example, the Disks event filter is
triggered by any hard disk events and the Fans event filter is triggered by any fan
events. The Event Automation Plan wizard provides several common event filters
so you can create typically required event automation plans quickly and easily. For
more information about event filters, see “Event filters.” For more information
about advanced event filters, see “Selecting specific events for filtering.”

Complete the following steps to select common categories of events for filtering in
your event automation plan:
1. On the Events page, select Common from the Events list.
2. In the Event types list, select the categories of common events that you want to
monitor. You can select more than one category of events; however, you must
provide information for some of the categories. Provide this information before
you select another category of events. The following list describes the categories
of common events that you can select as well as the information each set
requires.
General
The error severity criterion is associated with events in general.
Table 29. Categories of events for IBM Systems Director and event severity
Categories of
events Available settings
Event severity You can filter events by their severity. Select one or more of the following
criteria to create this filter:
v Fatal
v Critical
v Minor
v Warning
v Informational
v Unknown

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 297


Table 29. Categories of events for IBM Systems Director and event severity (continued)
Categories of
events Available settings
Updates You can filter these events by selecting one or more of the following
criteria:
v Task failed
v Check modified
v Distribute updates failed
v Download updates failed
v Check for updates failed
v New updates found
v Uninstall failed
v Uninstall successful
v Installation failed
v Installation successful
Common Agent You can filter these events by selecting one or more the following criteria:
status v Online
v Offline
User login This type of event occurs in response to security failures like when a user
security submits an incorrect password or incorrect user ID. This entry does not
have additional settings.

Hardware
These categories of events are generated by the following hardware and
hardware components: processors (CPUs), disks, fans, memory, network
and switches, power supplies, security, servers, RAID or storage arrays,
and blade servers. None of these categories provide additional settings.
Thresholds
These events are generated by the monitors for microprocessor use,
memory use, and disk use. When you select one of these categories of
events, you must set the threshold values for the monitors. Then, a
threshold monitor is automatically created on the specified systems for
you. For more information, see “Managing monitors” and “Managing
thresholds.” The available monitors can vary depending on the selected
target systems. Different target systems might support different
monitors. If you selected multiple target systems, the monitors that are
displayed for selection are those that are supported by at least one of
the selected target systems.
Table 30. Categories of monitor events and available threshold settings
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
CPU utilization If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
check box. Then, select the percentage of processor use for the threshold.
When processor use is equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the
monitor generates a Processor Use event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the percentage of processor use for the threshold.
When processor use is equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the
monitor generates a Processor Use event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

298 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 30. Categories of monitor events and available threshold settings (continued)
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
Memory usage If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
check box. Then, select the amount of memory, in MB, to monitor for the
threshold. When the memory use is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates a Memory Use event with a
critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the amount of memory, in MB, to monitor for the
threshold. When the memory use is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates a Memory Use event with a
warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Disk % space If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
used check box. Then, select the percentage of disk capacity for the threshold.
When the used disk capacity is equal to or greater than the threshold
setting, the monitor generates a Disk Use event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the percentage of disk capacity for the threshold.
When the used disk capacity is equal to or greater than the threshold
setting, the monitor generates a Disk Use event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

Active Energy Monitors


If you have the Active Energy Manager plug-in installed, events that
are generated by Active Energy Manager monitors are available. The
available monitors can vary depending on the selected target systems.
Different target systems might support different Active Energy Manager
monitors. If you selected multiple target systems, the monitors that are
displayed for selection are those that are supported by at least one of
the selected target systems. When you select one of these categories of
events, you must set the threshold values for the monitors. Then, a
threshold monitor is automatically created on the specified systems for
you. For more information, see the IBM Systems Director Active Energy
Manager information center.
Table 31. Categories of Active Energy Manager monitor events and available threshold
settings
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
Ambient If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Temperature check box. Then, select the temperature, in degrees Celsius, to monitor
for the threshold. When the temperature is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates an Ambient Temperature event
with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the temperature, in degrees Celsius, to monitor
for the threshold. When the temperature is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates an Ambient Temperature event
with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 299


Table 31. Categories of Active Energy Manager monitor events and available threshold
settings (continued)
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
Ambient If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Temperature check box. Then, select the temperature, in degrees Celsius, to monitor
(externally for the threshold. When the temperature is equal to or greater than the
metered) threshold settings, the monitor generates an Ambient Temperature
(externally metered) event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the temperature, in degrees Celsius, to monitor
for the threshold. When the temperature is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates an Ambient Temperature
(externally metered) event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Current If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
check box. Then, select the amperage capacity to monitor for the
threshold. When the current is equal to or greater than the threshold
settings, the monitor generates a Current event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the amperage capacity to monitor for the
threshold. When the current is equal to or greater than the threshold
settings, the monitor generates a Current event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Amperage If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Capacity check box. Then, select the amperage capacity to monitor for the
threshold. When the amperage capacity is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates an Amperage Capacity event
with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the amperage capacity to monitor for the
threshold. When the amperage capacity is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates an Amperage Capacity event
with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Average Input If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Power check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Input Power event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Input Power event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Average Input If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Power (AC) check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Input Power (AC) event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Input Power (AC) event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

300 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 31. Categories of Active Energy Manager monitor events and available threshold
settings (continued)
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
Average Input If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Power (DC) check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Input Power (DC) event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Input Power (DC) event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Average Input If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Power check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
(externally equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
metered) Average Input Power (externally metered) event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Input Power (externally metered) event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Average Output If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Power check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Output Power event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Output Power event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Average Output If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Power (AC) check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Output Power (AC) event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Output Power (AC) event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Average Output If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Power (DC) check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Output Power (DC) event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the watts for the threshold. When the watts are
equal to or greater than the threshold setting, the monitor generates an
Average Output Power (DC) event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 301


Table 31. Categories of Active Energy Manager monitor events and available threshold
settings (continued)
Categories of
events Available threshold settings
Effective CPU If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Speed check box. Then, select the speed of effective processor use for the
threshold. When the effective processor use is equal to or greater than
the threshold setting, the monitor generates an Effective CPU Speed
event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the speed of effective processor use for the
threshold. When the effective processor use is equal to or greater than
the threshold setting, the monitor generates an Effective CPU Speed
event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Exhaust If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
Temperature check box. Then, select the temperature, in degrees Celsius, to monitor
for the threshold. When the temperature is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates an Exhaust Temperature event
with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the temperature, in degrees Celsius, to monitor
for the threshold. When the temperature is equal to or greater than the
threshold settings, the monitor generates an Exhaust Temperature event
with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Humidity If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
check box. Then, select the percentage of humidity to monitor for the
threshold. When the humidity is equal to or greater than the threshold
settings, the monitor generates a Humidity (percentage) event with a
critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the percentage of humidity to monitor for the
threshold. When the humidity is equal to or greater than the threshold
settings, the monitor generates a Humidity (percentage) event with a
warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.
Humidity If you want the monitor to generate a critical event, select the Critical
(externally check box. Then, select the percentage of humidity to monitor for the
metered) threshold. When the humidity is equal to or greater than the threshold
settings, the monitor generates a Humidity (externally metered)
(percentage) event with a critical severity.

If you want the monitor to generate a warning event, select the Warning
check box. Then, select the percentage of humidity to monitor for the
threshold. When the humidity is equal to or greater than the threshold
settings, the monitor generates a Humidity (externally metered)
(percentage) event with a warning severity.
Note: You can set a threshold for both critical and warning events.

3. When you are satisfied with the specified event filters, click Next.

302 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Event filters” on page 277
“Events that are available for filtering” on page 277
“Simple event filter” on page 278
Related tasks
“Selecting specific events for filtering”

Selecting specific events for filtering:

You can select the events that you want to filter. When these events occur, your
event automation plan can respond with one or more customized event actions. If
you want to monitor specific events that are not included in the common event
filters, then you must select advanced event filters. You also can create more
sophisticated event filters that are triggered when duplicates of an event are
received, when events occur a specific number times over a range of time, or when
a specific event is received but you want to exclude another event. For information
about event filter types, see “Event filters.” For information about quickly creating
common event filters, see “Selecting common categories of events for filtering.”

To select specific events for filtering in your event automation plan, complete the
following steps:
1. On the Events page, select Advanced event filters from the Events list.
2. Select an event filter or create a new one.
v If you want to use an existing event filter, select the filter, then click Next.
v If you want to use an existing event filter after you edit it, select the filter,
then click Edit.
v If you want to use a new filter that is based on an existing filter, select the
filter you want to modify, then click Create Like.
v If you want to use a new filter that you create, click Create.
3. Use an Event Filter wizard to create or edit the event filter. For more
information about using the Event Filter wizard to create or edit an event filter,
see “Creating an event filter”. After you finish using the Event Filter wizard to
save the new or modified event filter, the filter is displayed on the Advanced
Event Filters page.
4. Select the filter that you created or edited, then click Next.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 303


Related concepts
“Events” on page 276
“Event filters” on page 277
“Events that are available for filtering” on page 277
“Simple event filter” on page 278
“Duplication event filter” on page 279
“Exclusion event filter” on page 280
“Threshold event filter” on page 280
Related tasks
“Creating, editing, or copying an event filter” on page 318
“Monitoring for IBM i message queue events” on page 510
“Selecting common categories of events for filtering” on page 297
Related reference

Events Reference

Creating an event action to activate in an event automation plan


The event automation plan uses event actions to automate one or more tasks when
one or more specified events occur.

In most event automation plans, you use one or more of the following common
event actions:
v Send an alphanumeric page (using TAP)
v Send an e-mail (Internet SMTP)
v Send an e-mail to a mobile phone
v Start a program on a system
v Start a program on the management server
v Start a program on the system that generated the event
If you want to run more complex actions, then you must select an advanced event
action. For information about event action types, see “Event actions.”

To create an event action, complete the following steps:


1. On the Events actions page, click Create.
2. In the Create Actions window, select an event action. For information about
event action types, see “Event actions.”
3. Click OK.
4. Type a name for the event action in the Action name field. Use a naming
convention that ensures the entries are grouped conveniently on the Event
Actions page. For example, if you want names to begin with the associated
action, an event action that sends a message to a pager or phone might start
with Pager or Phone.
5. Complete the remaining fields for the event action that you selected. For some
event action types, you can include event-specific information as part of the
text message. Including event information is referred to as event-data
substitution. You can use event-data-substitution variables to customize event
actions. For more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
6. If the event action that you selected includes the Test button, you can
determine whether your settings are correct by clicking Test.
7. Click OK to save the event action.
8. When you are satisfied with your selected event actions, click Next. The new
event action is displayed in the Event action page.

304 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: You can create and select more than one type of event action for your
event automation plan.
Related concepts
“Event actions” on page 280
“Event-data-substitution variables” on page 314

Specifying the time range for event automation plan activation


When creating an event automation plan, you can specify the time range for the
plan to be active. You will want many plans to be active all the time. However,
you might need other plans to be active at only certain times, such as weekends or
overnight.

Complete the following steps to specify the time range for the event automation
plan activation:
1. On the Time range page, choose the period of time over which you want to
collect the events. You can select All day (24 x 7) to enable the plan to be active
all the time. Or you can select Custom to choose specific days for the plan to
be active.
2. If you selected All day (24 x 7), go to step 6. Otherwise, in the Days list, select
the day for which you want to set the start and end times of the time range.
3. Select the All day check box if you want the 24 hours of the selected week day
monitored. However, if you want to monitor less than the 24 hours of the
selected week day, select the start time of the time range from the Start time
list and the end time of the time range from the End time list.
4. Click Add. The day and time range that you specified is added to the event
automation plan and is displayed at the bottom of the Time range page.
5. If you want to specify additional time ranges, repeat steps 2 through 4 for each
time range that you want to specify. If you want to remove one of the time
ranges you specified, select that range and click Remove.
6. When you are satisfied with the specified time ranges, click Next.
7. On the Summary page, verify the details of the event automation plan. If you
need to make changes, click < Back.
8. When you are done editing the event automation plan, click Finish.

The event automation plan is saved and is displayed on the Event Automation
Plans page.

Deactivating and activating an event automation plan


You can deactivate an event automation plan such that the specified events do not
trigger the plan. When you want the event automation plan available for events to
trigger again, you can subsequently activate the event automation plan. By default,
event automation plans are activated.

Deactivating an event automation plan can be useful if you want to temporarily


turn off an event automation plan. For example, if you have an event automation
plan that notifies you of printer problems by sending a message to your mobile
phone, you can turn off the event automation plan while you are gone on vacation,
but turn it back on when you return.

To deactivate and then activate an event automation plan, complete the following
steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
Chapter 6. Automating tasks 305
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, select the event automation plan that you
want to deactivate.

Note: You can deactivate more than one event automation plan at a time.
3. Click Actions > Deactivate. The event automation plan is deactivated. On the
Event Automation Plans page in the Status column, the state is changed from
Active to Inactive. A message is displayed on the page stating that the event
automation plan was deactivated successfully.
4. When you want to activate the event automation plan, select the plan and click
Actions > Activate. The event automation plan is activated. On the Event
Automation Plans page in the Status column, the state is changed from Inactive
to Active. A message is displayed on the page stating that the event automation
plan was activated successfully.
Related reference

evtautopln command

Deleting an event automation plan


You can delete an event automation plan when it is no longer useful.

To delete an event automation plan, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, select the event automation plan that you
want to delete.

Note: You can delete more than one event automation plan at a time.
3. Click Delete.
4. In the confirmation window, click Delete.

The event automation plan is deleted and is no longer displayed on the Event
Automation Plans page. A message is displayed on the page stating that the event
automation plan was deleted successfully.
Related reference

rmevtautopln command

Editing an event automation plan


Edit an event automation plan to change settings in a preexisting event automation
plan.

To edit an event automation plan, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, select the event automation plan that you
want to edit.
3. Click Edit.
4. In the Event Automation Plan wizard, navigate to the pages that you want to
edit and make your changes.
5. On the Summary page, verify the details of the event automation plan. If you
need to make changes, click < Back.
6. When you are done editing the event automation plan, click Finish.

306 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


The event automation plan is saved and is displayed on the Event Automation
Plans page.
Related reference

chevtautopln command

evtautopln command

Suspending and resuming event automation plans


You can suspend all event automation plans for a system (except for the Log All
Events plan) so that the specified events do not trigger the plans. When you want
the event automation plans available for events to trigger again, you can resume
all the event automation plans.

Suspending all event automation plans can be useful when you want to
temporarily turn off all event actions associated with the event automation plans.
For example, if you have automation plans that notify you when a server
encounters various problems, you can suspend all event automation plans while
you work on the server. After you resolve the problem, you can resume all event
automation plans for the server.

To suspend and then resume event automation plans, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the group that contains the resource for which you want to
suspend all the event automation plans.
3. Right-click the resource, then select Automation > Suspend Event Actions.
After you suspend event actions, no event triggers any event automation plan
for the selected resource, except the Log All Events plan. In the Suspended
Action Plans column for the specified resource, the state changes from False to
True.

Note: For more information about adding the Suspended Action Plans column
to the table, see “Setting table-column preferences”.
4. When you want to resume having event actions on the resource trigger event
automation plans, right-click the resource, then select Automation > Resume
Event Actions. After you resume event actions, event actions for the resource
again trigger event automation plans. In the Suspended Action Plans column,
the state changes from True to False.
Related tasks
“Setting table-column preferences” on page 98

Viewing event automation plans associated with a resource


You can view the properties for a resource to determine whether that resource is
associated with any event automation plans.

To determine whether a resource is associated with any event automation plans,


complete the following steps:
1. Navigate to the resource and select it.
2. Click Actions > Properties.
3. On the Properties page, click the Applied Activities tab.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 307


On the Applied Activities page, you can view a list of any event automation plans
that can potentially affect the resource.

Viewing event automation plan properties


You can view the properties for an event automation plan for information about
the plan settings. This information is the same summary that you see when you
complete creating an event automation plan.

To view event automation plan properties, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, select the event automation plan whose
properties you want to view.
3. Click Actions > Properties.
4. On the Properties page, view the settings for the event automation plan.

Note: The Actions button does not provide any event-filter specific actions
because there are none available on the Properties page.
Related reference

lsevtautopln command

Managing event actions


Event actions specify the action that IBM Systems Director takes in response to a
specific event or events. You can create, copy, edit, test, and delete event actions as
well as view their properties. Also, you can record and view the history of an
event action.
Related reference

Viewing event actions (lsevtact command)

Generating events for testing purposes (genevent command)

Creating an event action


Create an event action to use in your event automation plans. You can create event
actions and test actions before using them in your event automation plans.
Typically, you create event actions in the Event Automation Plan wizard. However,
there might be times when you want to create an event action that you can use in
event automation plans at another time.

To create an event action, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, click Create.
3. In the Create Actions window, select an event action. For information about
event action types, see “Event actions.”
4. Click OK.
5. Type a name for the event action in the Action name field. Use a naming
convention that ensures the entries are grouped conveniently on the Event

308 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Actions page. For example, if you want names to begin with the associated
action, an event action that sends a message to a pager or phone might start
with Pager or Phone.
6. Complete the remaining fields for the event action that you selected. For some
event action types, you can include event-specific information as part of the
text message. Including event information is referred to as event-data
substitution. You can use event-data-substitution variables to customize event
actions. For more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
7. If the event action that you selected includes the Test button, you can
determine whether your settings are correct by clicking Test.
8. Click OK to save the event action.

The event action is saved and is displayed on the Event Actions page.
Related concepts
“Event actions” on page 280
Related reference

mkevtactemail command

mkevtactstpgm command

mkevtactsttask command

Editing an event action


Edit an event action to change settings in a preexisting event action.

To edit an event action, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action that you want to edit.
3. Click Edit.
4. Edit the settings that you want to change for the event action.
5. If the event action that you selected includes the Test button, you can
determine whether your settings are correct by clicking Test.
6. Click OK to save the event action.

The event action is saved and is displayed on the Event Actions page.

Copying an event action


Copy an event action when you want to create an event action that is like a
preexisting event action.

To copy an event action, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action that you want to copy.
3. Click Create Like.
4. Edit the settings that you want to change for the event action.
5. If the event action that you selected includes the Test button, you can
determine whether your settings are correct by clicking Test.
6. Click OK to save the event action.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 309


The event action is saved and is displayed on the Event Actions page.
Related reference

mkevtactemail command

mkevtactstpgm command

mkevtactsttask command

Testing an event action


You can test an event action to make sure that the settings perform as expected. It
is a best practice to test an event action before using it in an event automation plan
so you can avoid unexpected results.

The following event actions cannot be tested because critical information is not
available until a system generates the event and triggers an event automation plan:
v Start a program on the system that generated the event
v Start a task on the system that generated the event
v Update the status of the system that generated the event

To make sure that an event action can be tested, select the event action and click
Actions > Properties. The Properties page for the event action states whether the
event action can be tested.

To test an event action, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action that you want to test.
3. Click Actions > Test.
4. In the confirmation window, click Test. A message is displayed on the page
stating whether the event action was started successfully. If the selected event
action cannot be tested, a message also is displayed.
5. To view details about the test, select the event action and click Actions >
Properties. An example of the kind of detail you might want to view is
whether the action completed successfully.
6. On the Properties page, click the History tab to view details about the test.
Related concepts
“Send an alphanumeric page (using TAP)” on page 283
“Send an e-mail to a mobile phone” on page 284
“Send an Internet (SMTP) e-mail” on page 284
“Start a program on a system” on page 288
“Start a program on the management server” on page 288
“Start a task on a specified system” on page 289
Related reference

testevtact command

Deleting an event action


You can delete an event action when it is no longer useful.

To delete an event action, complete the following steps:

310 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, one or more event actions that you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
4. In the confirmation window, click Delete.

The event action is deleted and is no longer displayed on the Event Actions page.
A message is displayed on the page stating that the event action was deleted
successfully.
Related reference

rmevtact command

Saving and not saving an event-action history


You can save useful information about an event action by saving the event-action
history. When you no longer want to save the event-action history, you can stop
saving it. By default, the event-action history is not saved. To view an event-action
history, see “Viewing an event-action history.”

Saving the history of an event action can provide useful information. For example,
an event automation plan can include an event action that reduces disk-space used
by running a program to remove temporary files. When you start saving the
history for this event-action, the following information is recorded:
v The date and time when the event action ran and, later, when the cleanup
program ran
v Whether the program ran successfully
v The event that triggered the event filter.

To start and then stop saving the history of an event action, complete the following
steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action with the history that you
want to start saving.

Note: You can start saving the history for more than one event action at a time.
3. Click Actions > Start Saving History. The history of the event action is now set
to be saved. On the Event Actions page in the History column, the value is
changed from Not saved to Saved. A message is displayed on the page stating
that saving of the event-action history was started successfully.
4. When you want to stop saving the history for an event action, select the event
action and click Actions > Stop Saving History. The history of the event action
is set to no longer be saved. On the Event Actions page in the History column,
the value is changed from Saved to Not saved. A message is displayed on the
page stating that saving the event-action history was stopped successfully.
Related reference

evtacthist command

Viewing an event-action history


You can view an event-action history for information about how an event action
ran in your systems-management environment.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 311


Before you can view the history for an event action, you have to start saving the
history for that event action. For information, see “Saving and not saving an
event-action history.”

Saving the history of an event action can provide useful information. For example,
an event automation plan can include an event action that reduces disk-space used
by running a program to remove temporary files. When you start saving the
history for this event-action, the following information is recorded:
v The date and time when the event action ran and, later, when the cleanup
program ran
v Whether the program ran successfully
v The event that triggered the event filter.

To view the history for an event action, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action for which you want to view
the history.
3. Click Actions > Properties.
4. On the Properties page, click the History tab to view the event-action history.
Each log entry in the history provides the following information about each
time the event action was used:
Date The date and time on which the event was generated.
Launch Status
Event action launch status, which indicates whether the action was
launched successfully. Possible values are successful and failed.
Completion Date
The date and time when the event action completed.
Completion Status
Event action completion status, which indicates whether the action ran
successfully. Possible values are successful, failed, and not performed.
The Not Performed status is specific to three event actions: Modify an
event and send it, Start a program on a system, and Start a task on a
specified system. If you do not configure any modifications to make to
an incoming event, the event is not sent again and the event action
status is considered not performed. For the latter two events, if the
specified system cannot be found when the event action is invoked,
then the action cannot be performed.
Managed Resource
Target system on which the event occurred.
Event Type
The type of event that was generated. The event types are categorized
by hardware, device, or software.
Category
The mode of the event. Possible categories are:
Alert A problem occurred.
Resolution
A problem was resolved and is no longer a problem.

312 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Event Severity
The severity level of the event, which identifies potentially urgent
problems requiring immediate attention. Possible severity levels are:
Fatal The source of the event has already caused the program to fail
and needs to be resolved before the program is restarted.
Critical
The source of the event might cause program failure and needs
to be resolved immediately.
Minor The source of the event is not likely to cause immediate
program failure, but needs to be resolved.
Warning
The source of the event is not necessarily problematic, but
might warrant investigation.
Informational
The event was generated for information only. Most events of
this severity do not indicate potential problems. However,
offline events are categorized as informational, and these events
can indicate potential problems.
Unknown
The application that generated the event did not assign a
severity level.
Sender
The system that sent the event to IBM Systems Director Server. For
example, SNMP events list the IP address of the trap source. Because
most events are generated by IBM Systems Director Server, this field
typically contains the name of the management server.
Related reference

lsevtacthist command

Refreshing entries in an event-action history log


You can refresh an event-action history log so that you can view the latest
available entries.

To refresh an event-action history log, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action for which you want to view
the history.
3. Click Actions > Properties.
4. On the Properties page, click the History tab to view the event-action history.
5. On the History page, click Refresh. The list of available log entries is refreshed.

Deleting entries from an event-action history log


You can delete log entries from an event-action history when the entries are no
longer useful.

To delete a log entry, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 313


2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action whose history-log entries
you want to delete.
3. Click Actions > Properties.
4. On the Properties page, click the History tab to view the event-action history.
5. Select one or more log entries that you want to delete.
6. Click Delete.
7. In the confirmation window, click Delete.

The log entry is deleted and is no longer displayed on the History page. A
message is displayed on the page stating that the log entry was deleted
successfully.

Viewing event action properties


You can view the properties for an event action for information about the action
settings. Also, the Properties page lists the event automation plans that include the
event action.

To view event-action properties, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Actions.
2. On the Event Actions page, select the event action whose properties you want
to view.
3. Click Actions > Properties.
4. On the Properties page, view the settings for the event action. The settings vary
depending on the type of the event action.

Note: The Actions button does not provide any event-action specific actions
because there are none available on the Properties page.
Related reference

lsevtact command

Event-data-substitution variables
For some types of actions, you can include event-specific information as part of the
message text. Including event information is referred to as event-data substitution.
You can use event-data-substitution variables to customize the message text sent
by an action.

The following examples show how you can use event-data-substitution variables in
the message text associated with a customized event action:
v &severity - &text on &system
v Event &text received from &system at &time on &date

Tip: When you use event-data-substitution variables, do not use punctuation after
the variable, for example:
Event received from &system.

&system cannot be interpreted correctly because of the period.

You can use the following event-data-substitution variables.

314 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: Any of the substitution variables can have a null value. In that case, the
localized version of the string “Not Applicable” is returned.
&date The localized date on which the event occurred.

Example: 7/23/2007
&time The localized time at which the event occurred.

Example: 2:32 PM CDT


&text The event details, if they are supplied by the event.

Example: System moonlite is offline with errors.


&type The event-type criteria that were used to trigger the event. For example,
the event that is generated when a system goes offline is of type Topology
> Offline. This type corresponds to the entry on the Event Type page.

Example: ComputerSystem or Processor


&severity
The severity level of the event.

Example: Informational
&system
The IP address or host name of the system on which the event was
generated. The system name is either the name of the system running
Common Agent or, in the case of an SNMP device, the TCP/IP address.

Example: moonlite
&sender
The name of the system that sent the event. This can be different from the
&system value if the event was forwarded or transmitted through an
intermediate system. This variable returns a null value if the name is
unavailable.

Example: moonlite
&group
The group to which the target system belongs and that is monitoring the
system. This variable returns a null value if the group is unavailable.

Example: TestHardwareGroup
&category
The category of the event, either Alert or Resolution. For example, if the
system goes offline, the category is Alert. If the system goes online, the
category is Resolution.

Example: Alert
&pgmtype
The fully qualified representation of the event type using internal type
strings (ComponentCategory.ComponentType).

Examples: Managed Resource > Managed System Resource > Logical


Resource > Logical Device > Processor

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 315


&timestamp
The long value timestamp of the time that the event occurred, in
milliseconds, since 1/1/1970 12:00 AM GMT.

Example: 1185219178228
&rawsev
The nonlocalized string of event severity. Non-localized string of the event
severity.

Example: Any of the following strings: “FATAL”, “CRITICAL”, “MINOR”,


“WARNING”, “INFORMATIONAL”, “UNKNOWN”.
&rawcat
The nonlocalized string of event category.

Example: Any of the following strings: “ALERT”, “RESOLUTION”.


&corr An internally generated correlation identifier for this event. This identifier
allows an alert event to be correlated with a resolution event, thereby
indicating that the problem that caused the alert has been corrected. The
length of this string can vary.

Example: 1883481972341237
&snduid
The unique ID of the event sender.

Example: 7F153619BA2D7861
&sysuid
The unique ID of the system that is associated with the event.

Example: 4309132478791324
&prop:file_name#property_name
The value of the property string property_name from property file file_name.
file_name can include the absolute directory path or the relative path to the
IBM\Director\classes directory.

Note: For IBM i, you must use the absolute directory path.
The properties file contains key=value pairs. property_name is the name of a
key in the properties file. The value of the specified property is returned.
The value can be any string, depending on the purpose and contents of the
properties file.

Examples:

&prop:logging.properties#SystemErr.level = INFO
&prop:encoding.properties#zh = UTF-8
&prop:security.properties#enableAuthentication = TRUE
&sysvar:variable_name
The string value of a variable, variable_name, previously set in the IBM
Systems Director sysvar file. Variables can be set in this file using the Set
an event system variable event action. The variable name and value can
be any string. This variable returns null if a value is unavailable. For
information about the event action, see “Set an event system variable.”

316 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Examples:

&sysvar:DEBUG_SETTING = DEBUG_ON
&sysvar:IP = 9.3.44.150
&slotid:slot_id
The nonlocalized ID slot_id is the identifier of event details contained
within the event. An event might include any number of event details. This
substitution variable is used to retrieve those details. The user must know
the identifier of the event detail that they want. The value can be any
string as defined by the component that generates the event.

Example: &slotid:Suppressions = “3 instances of this condition have been


suppressed.”
&otherstring
If any other word is preceded by an &, it is treated the same as the slot_id
in the previous &slotid:slot_id variable. The otherstring string is used as an
identifier to locate event details contained with the event.
The value of the detail slot that has a localized label that matches
otherstring. A detail slot is a record in an event detail. For example, an event
might have one event detail that has an ID of key1 and a value of value1.
You could use the substitution variable &slotid:key1 to obtain the value
value1. You also can use &key1 to obtain the value value1. In the
description above, otherstring is a placeholder for the user-defined event
detail ID. However, if the passed ID is not found, the value Not
applicable is returned.

Example: &Suppressions = “3 instances of this condition have been


suppressed.”
Related concepts
“Log to a log file” on page 281
“Modify an event and send it” on page 281
“Post to a newsgroup (NNTP)” on page 282
“Send an alphanumeric page (using TAP)” on page 283
“Send an e-mail to a mobile phone” on page 284
“Send an Internet (SMTP) e-mail” on page 284
“Set an event system variable” on page 287
“Static group: add or remove group members” on page 290
“Static group: add or remove the event-generating system” on page 291
“Timed alarm that generates an event” on page 291
“Timed alarm that starts a program” on page 292

Managing event filters


A filter specifies one or more events that you want your event automation plan to
process. The event automation plan ignores any event instances that do not meet
the specifications of the filter. You can create, copy, edit and delete event filters.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 317


Related reference

Viewing event types (lsevttype command)

Generating events for testing purposes (genevent command)

Creating, editing, or copying an event filter


Create an event filter to use in your event automation plan. Typically, you create
event filters in the Event Automation Plan wizard. You can use the Event Filter
wizard to create an event filter that you intend to use in an event automation plan
at another time. Also, you can edit an existing event filter or create one by copying
and modifying an existing filter.

You create event filters so that you can use them in your automation plans. As you
create or edit event filters, you specify the types of events and event characteristics
that you want to include in the filter. The filter is triggered when those included
events are encountered during the processing of an automation plan.

To create an event filter, edit an existing filter, or create a filter that is based on an
existing filter, complete the following steps:

Note: The Event Filter wizard determines which panels to display based on your
choices. Different panels display depending on the type of events and event
characteristics that you choose to include.
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Filters.
2. Perform only one of the following actions.
v If you want to create an event filter, click Create.
v If you want to edit an existing event filter, select the filter you want to edit,
then click Edit.
v If you want to create an event filter that is like an existing filter, select the
existing filter, then click Create Like.
3. On the Welcome page, click Next.
4. On the Filter Name page, type a name and description for the event filter,
then click Next. Although it is not required, a description does help you sort
and manage your event filters.
5. On the Filter Type page, select the type of filter that you want to create, then
click Next. For more information about the different filter types, see “Event
Filters”.
6. On the Event Type page, complete one of the following actions to select the
type of event that you want to include, then click Next.
v Select Default to include events of all types, except for Windows-specific
events. Optionally, you can include IBM i message queue events.
v Select Common to include the most common systems-management event
types, except for Windows-specific events. Optionally, you can include IBM
i message queue events. Click the name of an event type to see a
description and any additional settings. If an entry has additional settings,
make sure to select the event type and each setting that you want to
include.
v Select Custom to specify event types by category, type, and value.
Optionally, you can include IBM i message queue events. The Available
table is a hierarchical list of event types. Click an entry in the table or the
breadcrumbs above the table to navigate within the hierarchy. Select an

318 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


entry to include that entry and any entries in subsequent levels of the
hierarchy. (The table also lists available Windows-specific events.)
7. If the IBM i Event type page appears, specify IBM i messages that you want
to include. Otherwise, go to the next step.
a. Type each message that you want to include.

Note: Use the following format: library/message_queue.messageID

where
v library is the library for the event monitor
v message_queue is the message queue for the event monitor
v messageID (optional) is the ID of the event monitor
The IBM i.Message Queue field automatically provides the common
message queue event prefix, which is OS/400.msgq. You type only the
unique portion of the message queue event. Consider the following
examples that assume the library is QSYS and the message queue is
QSYSOPR:
v To specify all message IDs, type QSYS/QSYSOPR
v To specify a message ID of CPF1234, type QSYS/QSYSOPR.CPF1234
v To specify any message ID that starts with the characters CPF, type
QSYS/QSYSOPR. Then, on the Event Text page, specify that you want to
look for the characters CPF. For more information on the Event Text
page, see step 12 on page 320
b. Click Add to add the message to the list of Selected IBM i event types.
c. When you are finished adding messages, click Next.
8. If the Excluded Event Type page appears, specify the event types that you
want to exclude, then click Next. Otherwise, go to the next step. Excluded
events do not trigger the filter. You specify the event types to exclude in the
same way that you specified the event types to include in step 6 on page 318
Optionally, you can exclude IBM i message queue events. To exclude available
Windows-specific events, select Custom.
9. If the Excluded IBM i Event Type page appears, specify the IBM i messages
that you want to exclude. Otherwise, go to the next step. Excluded events do
not trigger the filter. You specify the messages to exclude in the same way that
you specified the messages to include in step 7
10. On the Severity and Category page, specify the severities and categories that
you want to include, then click Next. Select Default to include events of all
severities and categories. Select Custom to specify one or more severities and
categories.
11. On the Event Sender page, you can add any specific event senders that you
want to include in the filter. The filter is triggered when a specified sender
generates an event that you included in the filter. Choosing Default includes
events sent from any managed resource.
a. Select a sender from the Systems list, then click Add to add it to the
Selected senders list.
b. To add a sender that does not appear in the Systems list, type the name of
the sender in the Additional sender field, then click Add.
c. When you are finished adding senders, click Next.

Important: Remember to update any specified sender name if you rename


the associated resource (the sender). When a managed resource is renamed,

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 319


IBM Systems Director does not automatically update the associated sender
name in an event filter. Renaming the resource without updating the event
filter results in a mismatch between the sender name that is specified in
the event filter and the sender name that is specified in the incoming
event. The mismatch in sender names causes any event action plan that
includes the filter to fail.
12. On the Event Text page, specify the event text that you want to include in the
filter, then click Next.
v Select Default to include all event text.
v Select Custom to specify a word, separate words, or a phrase that you want
to include in the filter. The filter is triggered by only those events that you
include in the filter that also contain the specified text.
13. If the Frequency page appears, specify how often an event occurs before
triggering this filter. Otherwise, go to the next step.
v Select Default to trigger the filter any time an included event occurs.
v Select Custom to specify how many times an event must occur before
triggering the filter, called the matching event count. Optionally, you can
specify a time interval within which the event must occur.
14. If the System Variables page appears, specify the system variables that you
want to include, then click Next. Otherwise, go to the next step. The filter is
triggered when an included event occurs that has a specified keyword and
value pair with a given value.
v Select Default if you want to include all events, regardless of whether they
have system variables.
v Select Custom so that the filter is triggered only when included events also
contain one of the selected keyword and value pairs that has a specified
value.
15. On the Time Range page, specify when you want events to trigger the filter,
then click Next.
v Select All so that the filter is triggered any time that included events occur.
v Select Custom to specify that the filter is triggered only when included
events occur on a particular day of the week or within an identified time
range.
16. On the Summary page review your settings. If you want to modify any
settings, click Back to make changes. When you are satisfied with the event
filter, click Finish to save it.

The event filter is saved and is displayed on the Event Filters page.

320 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Events that are available for filtering” on page 277
“Simple event filter” on page 278
“Duplication event filter” on page 279
“Exclusion event filter” on page 280
“Threshold event filter” on page 280
Related tasks
“Creating an event automation plan” on page 295
“Viewing the automation manager summary” on page 293
Related reference

Events Reference

Editing an event filter


Edit an event filter to change the settings in an event filter that you previously
created.

To edit an event filter, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Filters.
2. On the Event Filters page, select the event filter that you want to edit.

Note: IBM Systems Director includes some predefined event filters that you
cannot edit. You can create an event filter that is like a predefined filter by
using Create Like, but you cannot directly edit it.
3. Click Edit. The Edit Event Filter wizard is displayed.
4. Use the Edit Event Filter wizard to edit the event filter. The Edit Event Filter
wizard uses the same panels as the Create Event Filter wizard. For more
information about using an Event Filter wizard to create or edit an event filter,
see “Creating an event filter”. After you finish using the Edit Event Filter
wizard to save the event filter, it is displayed on the Advanced Event Filters
page.

The edited event filter is saved and displayed on the Event Filters page.
Related concepts
“Events that are available for filtering” on page 277
“Simple event filter” on page 278
“Duplication event filter” on page 279
“Exclusion event filter” on page 280
“Threshold event filter” on page 280
Related tasks
“Selecting specific events for filtering” on page 303
“Viewing the automation manager summary” on page 293

Copying an event filter


Copy an event filter when you want to create an event filter that is like a
preexisting event filter.

To copy an event filter, complete the following steps:

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 321


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Filters.
2. On the Event Filters page, select the event filter that you want to copy.
3. Click Create Like. The Copy Event Filter wizard is displayed.
4. Use the Copy Event Filter wizard to create an event filter based on the one that
you selected. The Copy Event Filter wizard uses the same panels as the Create
Event Filter wizard. For more information about using an Event Filter wizard
to create or edit an event filter, see “Creating an event filter”. After you finish
using the Copy Event Filter wizard to save the event filter, the filter is
displayed on the Advanced Event Filters page.

The new filter that is based on a preexisting filter is saved and displayed on the
Event Filters page.
Related concepts
“Events that are available for filtering” on page 277
“Simple event filter” on page 278
“Duplication event filter” on page 279
“Exclusion event filter” on page 280
“Threshold event filter” on page 280
Related tasks
“Selecting specific events for filtering” on page 303
“Viewing the automation manager summary” on page 293

Viewing event filter properties


You can view the properties for an event filter for information about the filter
settings. Also, the Properties page lists the event automation plans that include the
event filter.

To view event-filter properties, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Filters.
2. On the Event Filters page, select the event filter whose properties you want to
view.
3. Click Actions > Properties.
4. On the Properties page, view the settings for the event filter. The settings vary
depending on the type of the event filter.

Note: The Actions button does not provide any event-filter specific actions
because there are none available on the Properties page.
Related tasks
“Viewing the automation manager summary” on page 293
Related reference

lsevtfltr command

Viewing predefined filter criteria


You can view the criteria used to define a predefined event filter.

322 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: You cannot change predefined event filters; they are read-only. However,
you can copy a predefined filter and change the copy. For more information, see
“Copying an event filter.”

If you want to see what event filter criteria are included in a predefined event
filter, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Filters.
2. On the Event Filters page, select the predefined filter that you want to view.
3. Click Actions > Properties.
Related concepts
“Simple event filter” on page 278

Deleting an event filter


You can delete an event filter when it is no longer useful.

To delete an event filter, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Automation and click
Event Filters.
2. On the Event Filters page, select the event filter that you want to delete.

Note: You can select to delete more than one event filter at a time.
3. Click Delete.
4. In the confirmation window, click Delete.

The event filter is deleted and is no longer displayed in the Event Filters page. A
message is displayed on the page stating that the filter was deleted successfully.
Related tasks
“Viewing the automation manager summary” on page 293
Related reference

rmevtfltr command

Exporting and importing event automation plans, event filters, and


event actions
Event automation plans, event filters, and event actions can be exported and
imported as an XML file on the management server.

Using CLI commands to export and import event automation plans, event filters,
and event actions makes it easier and faster to use multiple instances of your
plans, filters, and events. For example, you can export a set of event filters then
import them to other systems. Or, after exporting some event automation plans to
a development environment, you can modify and test them safely, then import
them to the systems in your production environment.

Use any XML editor to create or edit an XML file. Importing the XML file creates
the event automation plan, event filter, or event action, but does not update or
replace any existing plan, filter, or action. The import process checks and compares
the event automation plans, event filters, and event actions that you are importing
with the plans, filters, and events that reside on the management server. The
import process then reports any errors and conflicts.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 323


The schema files used for exporting and importing automation data reside in
install_directory\proddata\schema\xml, where install_directory is the location where
IBM Systems Director is installed.
v When exporting XML files, using the -F option with the CLI commands creates a
copy of the schema in the same directory as the exported files, if the schema
does not exist in that location.
v When importing XML files, the schema file needs to be in the same directory as
the imported file. The CLI commands create a copy of the schema in the same
directory as the one to which the XML file is imported, if the schema does not
exist in that location.

Using command automation


Use the Command Automation task to create, edit, copy, and delete command
definitions. A command definition specifies and configures a command-line
program that you want to run on a managed system. Anonymous command
restrictions apply to command definitions.

Note: Command automation is supported only on systems on which Common


Agent is installed.

Creating or editing a command definition


Use the command automation task to create and run a command definition, which
specifies the command-line program that you want to run on a managed system.
You can create a command definition, create one based on an existing command
definition, or edit an existing command definition.

Note:
v Command automation is supported only on systems on which Common Agent
is installed.
v Remember that anything a system-account user can do from a command line
can be done to the system, regardless of the user who is logged in to the
managed system.

To create or edit a command definition, perform the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Automation >
Command Automation.
2. Determine if you want to create a command definition, create a command
definition based on an existing one, or edit an existing command definition.
v If you want to create a command definition, click Create.
v If you want to create a command definition that is based on an existing
command definition, select a command definition from the table, then click
Create Like.
v If you want to edit an existing command definition, select a command
definition from the table, then click Edit.
3. In the Create Command Definitions window, specify information about the
command definition:
a. Accept the default name for the command definition or type a new name in
the Name field.
b. In the Command to run field, type the fully qualified file name and
command syntax. Consider the following information:

324 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v For managed systems running IBM i, the command is run in the Qshell
environment. To run an IBM i system command (such as the call
command), specify the command similar to the following example:
system ’call mylib/myclpgm’

The command runs within the Qshell environment and enables you to
access the IBM i system commands.
v For managed systems running Windows, preface the command with the
following string to ensure that it runs in a Windows command-shell
window:
cmd /c
c. In the Timeout field, type a timeout value, in seconds. The timeout value
specifies the number of seconds to wait for the command either to return a
completion code or time out. Make sure that the timeout value is long
enough.
d. Select the Log check box if you want to log any output produced by the
command, for example, a directory listing.
e. Either accept the default user ID (or the existing user ID if you clicked Edit
or Create Like) or type a new user ID that has the required authority to
perform the command. If you want to run the process using an alternative
user account and override the default user ID, you can specify a user ID
and password in the Login group box.

Note: (Managed systems running IBM i only) Commands cannot be performed


using the default user ID that is shipped with IBM Systems Director. For a
command definition to run successfully on IBM i systems, the command
definition must specify a valid user ID and password, or the managed system
to which it is being run must be configured to specify a user that has the
authority to run the command definition. You can register that user in the IBM
Director Agent default user function ID on the managed system system using
Application Administration in Power Systems Navigator.

Note: You either must specify an alternative user ID or remove the default user
ID from the registered function and add a new default user ID that has the
required authority to perform the command.
4. Click OK to save the command definition.

The Command Automation page displays the new command definition.

Running a command definition


After creating a command definition, you can run it on one or more specific
managed resources. Run the command definition immediately, or schedule the
command to run at a specific time or at regular intervals.

As an alternative to using the Command Automation task in the IBM Systems


Director Web interface, you also can specify the command definition as an action
in an event automation plan.

Note:
v Command automation is supported only on systems on which Common Agent
is installed.
v Using the Command Automation task to start interactive programs, for example
notepad.exe, is not supported.

Chapter 6. Automating tasks 325


To run a command definition, perform the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Automation >
Command Automation.
2. Select the command definition that you want to run. The Command
Automation page is displayed.
3. Click Run. The Task Launch Dialog window displays.
4. Use the Task Launch Dialog window to specify one or more target resources on
which you want to run the command and determine when you want to run the
command. You can also specify other options, including notification settings.
5. After you finish specifying the configuration for this command definition in the
Job Launcher window, click OK to run the command definition using your
settings.

Restricting anonymous command execution


By default, commands are run on the managed system as either system account
(Windows) or root (Linux). You can restrict anonymous command execution by
disabling this function and always requiring a user ID and password.

Restricting anonymous command execution on Linux


You can restrict anonymous command execution on managed systems running
Linux.

To restrict anonymous command execution, complete the following steps:


1. Change to the directory in which Common Agent is installed. If you installed
IBM Systems Director in the default directory, the directory name is
opt/ibm/director/data.
2. From a command-line prompt, type the following string, and then press Enter:
vi ProcMgr.properties
3. Change the value of RestrictAnonCmdExe to True.
4. Save the file. The change takes effect immediately.

Restricting anonymous command execution on Windows


You can restrict anonymous command execution on managed systems running
Windows.

To restrict anonymous command execution, complete the following steps:


1. On a Windows system, type regedit at a command line and press Enter:
2. Navigate to the registry entry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tivoli\
Director\CurrentVersion.
3. Double-click RestrictAnonCmdExec.
4. In the Value data field, change 0 to 1.
5. Click OK. The change takes effect immediately.

326 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Chapter 7. Updating systems
Use the IBM Systems Director update manager to acquire, install, and manage
updates, as well as to monitor your systems to ensure that they remain current.

Update manager enables you to monitor your systems for needed updates by
automatically checking for available product updates and identifying which
systems need attention. It also provides you with the ability to schedule the
installation of updates at convenient times for your network and users.

Update manager compares information about updates loaded into it with system
inventories to determine whether updates are needed. To populate update manager
with available updates, you can use either of the following functions:
v Check for updates: If an Internet connection is available, the check for updates
task automatically contacts the update repository and downloads information
about the latest available updates into update manager.
v Import updates: If no Internet connection is available, you can manually
download supported updates from www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/ and then
import them into update manager.

After updates are loaded into update manager, it compares the update information
to collected system inventories to determine whether your systems are current.
Update manager enables you to examine recently acquired updates and install any
needed updates.

To keep your systems up to date, update manager needs current information about
available updates. You can use either of the following methods, depending on your
Internet connection status, to refresh the update information:
v If an Internet connection is available, schedule a frequent, recurring Check for
updates task to automatically download update information.
v If no Internet connection is available, regularly monitor www.ibm.com/support/
fixcentral/ and import updates that your systems might need into update
manager.

To receive an automatic notification when updates are required to keep your


systems current or at specified update levels, you can set up compliance policies.
These policies specify which systems are monitored and which updates you must
install to keep the systems in compliance. You can view compliance status from the
Update Manager summary page and take corrective action as needed.

As a best practice, plan to update to the latest update or patch for your release of
IBM Systems Director at least twice a year. Maintaining this schedule will help to
eliminate unnecessary exposure to problems that are already resolved in more
current updates and patches. Staying farther back on maintenance can also inhibit
the ability of your service representative to provide a formal fix without first
requiring the application of a more current update or patch.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 327


Related concepts

Updating firmware and software


Related tasks

Installing agents

Planning to upgrade or update

Upgrading or updating the agents


Related reference

Update commands

Planning to update systems


Complete these planning steps before starting the actual update process to ensure
that the update process that you follow is successful and meets your needs.

Supported update tasks


You can use update manager to complete various update tasks, including
downloading and installing updates to existing software and setting up compliance
policies to monitor your systems. You can also use update manager to manage
individual updates or sets of updates that are known as update collections.

Update manager performs the following tasks:


v Manage and install updates to existing software products and firmware, external
network and storage switches, and external storage servers.
v Install updates to IBM Systems Director.
v Install updates to IBM Systems Director agents that have already been installed.
v Acquire and install an individual update or update collection with the following
sequence of tasks:
1. Downloading, which copies the installable files for an update to the
management server.
2. Installation staging, which copies the installable files for an update to an
appropriate location for eventual installation.
3. Installing, which installs an update.
4. Uninstalling, which removes an update.

Note: Not all updates support the uninstallation task.


v Manage compliance policies, which provide notification of when systems are in
need of updates and which updates are needed.
v Schedule a check for updates, which is a search for new updates of which
update manager is not currently aware. If any new updates are found, update
manager obtains the necessary information that is required to include these
updates.
v Provide details about a specific update, such as its documentation and
prerequisite requirements (requisite updates).
v Display information about updates that were installed by IBM Systems Director.

Note: Updates installed by other means are not displayed.

328 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Update manager does not perform the following tasks:
v Install new software products.
v Install IBM Systems Director agents on systems that currently do not have an
agent.
Instead, install IBM Systems Director agents with the agent manager plug-in of
IBM Systems Director.
v Migrate to any version of IBM Systems Director from any version of IBM
Director.
v Migrate to IBM Director 5.2 from IBM Director 5.1.
v Perform actions on systems that are not accessible. You can perform update
actions on only those systems that are accessible.

Notes:
– If a system is not accessible, the update menu actions are not displayed for it.
You cannot select a system that is not accessible in any of the system selection
actions, for example on the System page in the Installation wizard, on the
Installation staging wizard, and so on.
– If you want to monitor update management and compliance status on any
systems that are not accessible, you must first run inventory collection on
them. Most update manager methods cannot determine the applicability of
updates to a system unless inventory was previously collected on the system.
v Update another, different instance of IBM Systems Director Server.

Supported updates and systems


This is a list of supported updates and the systems to which they apply. Unless
otherwise noted, the systems can be Agentless managed systems, Common Agent
managed systems, and Platform Agent managed systems.
v IBM Systems Director 6.2.x, as follows:
– Common Agent
– Platform Agent
– IBM Systems Director Server
v IBM Systems Director 6.1.x, as follows:
– Common Agent
– Platform Agent
v IBM Director V5.20.x, as follows:
– IBM Director Agent version 5.20
– IBM Director Core Services version 5.20
v Technology levels and service packs for AIX 5.3 TL6 SP5 and later. (IBM Systems
Director Server or Common Agent only)
v Technology levels and service packs for AIX 6.1 (IBM Systems Director Server or
Common Agent only)
v SUSE Linux
v Red Hat Enterprise Linux
v Cumulative PTF packages and PTF groups for IBM i (formerly i5/OS) 5.4 and
later
v Hardware Management Console systems at V7.3.3 SP2 or later
v Power Systems firmware for all systems that meet at least one of the following
criteria:

Chapter 7. Updating systems 329


– Inband stand-alone (not managed by Hardware Management Console or
Integrated Virtualization Manager) Power Systems target systems running
AIX or Linux

Note: These systems must have the Common Agent installed.


– Out-of-band (managed by Hardware Management Console) target systems

Note: No Common Agent is required in this case because Secure Shell (SSH)
performs the update.
– Power Systems target systems managed by Integrated Virtualization Manager
and running Virtual I/O Server version 1.5.2.1-FP11.1 or later

Note: No Common Agent is required in this case because SSH performs the
update.
v Migration, fix packs, service packs, and interim fixes for Virtual I/O Server
version 1.5.2.1-FP11.1 or later
v Device driver and firmware updates, or UpdateXpress System Pack updates, for
System x servers running Linux or Windows

Notes:
– Support is provided for servers running all agent levels, including IBM
Director V5.2 agents and Agentless managed system.
– Support is provided for the application of System x device driver and
firmware updates to IBM Director 5.20 systems. This support includes IBM
Director 5.20 Common Agent managed system, Platform Agent managed
system, and Agentless managed system.
– Support is not provided for the application of System x device driver and
firmware updates to IBM Director 5.10 systems.
v IBM BladeCenter I/O Module Firmware

Notes:
– Applying IBM BladeCenter device driver and firmware updates to IBM
Director 5.20 systems is supported.
– Applying IBM BladeCenter device driver and firmware updates to IBM
Director 5.10 systems is not supported.
– For these devices, inventory is provided by SNMP.
v IBM BladeCenter Management Modules, Advanced Management Modules, and
Passthrough Modules

Notes:
– Applying IBM BladeCenter device driver and firmware updates to IBM
Director 5.20 systems is supported.
– Applying IBM BladeCenter device driver and firmware updates to IBM
Director 5.10 systems is not supported.
– For these devices, inventory is provided by SNMP.
v External storage firmware, including IBM BladeCenter external storage firmware
for IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module and IBM BladeCenter SAS
Connectivity Module

Supported System x and BladeCenter systems


Update manager for System x and BladeCenter supports a subset of available
System x and BladeCenter systems.

330 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


The following System x and BladeCenter systems are supported by update
manager for System x and BladeCenter.
v System x servers, except for System x iDataplex servers
v System x servers: 206, 226, 236, 246, 260, 306, 346, 366, and 460
v BladeCenter management modules
v BladeCenter I/O modules
v BladeCenter storage modules
v HS series blade servers except for these machine types:
– HS20 blade server, machine type 7981
– HS20 blade server, machine type 8678
– HS20 blade server, machine type 8832
– HS40 blade server, machine type 8839
v LS series blade servers
v JS21 blade server, machine type 7988
v JS21 blade server, machine type 8844
v QS22 blade server, machine type 0793

Version considerations for updating IBM Director and IBM


Systems Director
The use of a configuration with mixed IBM Director 5.20 and IBM Systems
Director 6.1 or 6.2 systems is discussed here, as well as applying updates to IBM
Systems Director itself. Consider these points when applying updates to systems
that are at a level earlier than the current level of IBM Systems Director.
v You cannot use update manager to perform a migration to IBM Director 5.20
from IBM Director 5.10.
v You cannot use update manager to perform a migration to IBM Systems Director
6.x from any version of IBM Director 5.x. However, you can use agent manager
to upgrade an IBM Director Agent version 5.20 to a IBM Systems Director 6.1
Common Agent managed system.
v From IBM Systems Director 6.1, you can use update manager to update to IBM
Systems Director Server 6.1.2 and use agent manager to update to Platform
Agent 6.1.2.
v You cannot update Common Agent 6.1 to Common Agent 6.1.1, so you must
first uninstall Common Agent 6.1 and then use agent manager to install
Common Agent 6.1.1 and Platform Agent 6.1.2.
v To update to Common Agent 6.2.1, you must start with Common Agent 6.2.
v You cannot use update manager to perform a migration to IBM Systems Director
6.2 from any version of IBM Director 5.10 or 5.20. However, you can use agent
manager to upgrade IBM Director Agent version 5.20 to a IBM Systems Director
6.2 Common Agent managed system.
v IBM Systems Director supports the updating of systems that are at earlier
versions of IBM Director as long as the updates do not change the version or
release level. The following earlier version of IBM Director can be updated: IBM
Director 5.20, all modification levels.

Note: You cannot update a newer version of any IBM Director or IBM Systems
Director component to an older version of the same component. You need to first
uninstall the newer component and then install the older component.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 331


Related tasks

Managing agents

Installing agents

Update considerations for specific operating systems and


platforms
When you are installing updates for certain hardware and operating systems, there
are unique tasks to be performed and restrictions to consider.

Predefined update groups can be used to facilitate working with updates for a
particular platform or operating system.

Update considerations for AIX systems


Updating AIX systems with IBM Systems Director requires the use of Network
Installation Management (NIM) software and a Common Agent. IBM Systems
Director supports updating AIX 5.3 TL6 SP4 and later releases, as well as updating
AIX 6.1 and later releases.

Terms used for updating AIX

These are terms you will encounter when you are working with AIX updates:
Network Installation Manager (NIM) master
An AIX system that has been designated as a focal point to receive updates
and install them on other AIX systems, known as NIM clients.
Network Installation Manager (NIM) client
An AIX system that is installed from a NIM master.
Technology Level
The twice yearly AIX releases, which contain new hardware and software
features and service updates. The first of the twice yearly technology levels
is restricted to hardware features and enablement, as well as software
service. The second of the twice yearly technology levels includes
hardware features and enablement, software service, and new software
features.
Make sure that you install all parts of a technology level. Back up your
system before installing a technology level.
Service Pack
A collection of service-only updates (also known as PTFs) that are released
between Technology Levels to be grouped for easier identification. These
fixes address highly pervasive, critical, or security-related issues.
Maintenance Level
The service updates (fixes and enhancements) that are necessary to
upgrade the Base Operating System (BOS) or an optional software product
to the current release level.
Recommended level
The level of a service pack that is recommended for a given AIX
technology level. Not all technology levels have a recommended service
pack level.
Latest level
The most recent level of service pack or technology level.

332 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Tips for updating AIX

Be aware of these tips and restrictions when you are working with AIX updates:
v Back up your system before installing a technology level.
v Updates can be installed only within a release of AIX. You cannot perform a
migration to a new version of AIX with update manager.
v You cannot perform a new overwrite installation of AIX with update manager.
v AIX 5.3 TL6 SP4 and later releases are supported, as well as AIX 6.1 and later
releases.
v To perform an installation or installation staging for AIX updates, your system
must meet these requirements:
– An AIX NIM master is required to stage and install the updates.
– A NIM environment is required.
– The AIX NIM master and the AIX managed systems (NIM clients) require a
Common Agent.
– The NIM master must be correctly initialized and configured.
– During installation, IBM Systems Director automatically adds the target AIX
system as a NIM client of the NIM master.
v The updates will always be staged to a NIM master. IBM Systems Director
update manager creates a separate file system named /export/um_lpp_source if
it does not exist. The size is initially set to 1G, but IBM Systems Director update
manager will increase the size if the available space is not large enough to hold
the update files.
v Installation of an update that requires a license acceptance must be done
manually on the AIX target system. There are cases in which an update
contained in a technology level or a service pack can require license acceptance.
The ability to accept a license is not supported from the user interface and must
be performed by installing the file set through the System Management Interface
Tool (SMIT) interface and responding yes to the query ACCEPT new license
agreements?.

Update considerations for IBM BladeCenter I/O Modules and


Management Modules
Consider these factors when updating IBM BladeCenter I/O Modules and
Management Modules.
v You can use update manager to install updates to IBM BladeCenter, but you
cannot use update manager to uninstall or roll back IBM BladeCenter updates.
v Before you can update the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module,
you must discover the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S)
provider used to communicate with the module.
v Before you can update out-of-band switches and IBM BladeCenter Management
Modules, you must create a configuration template for them.
v Updates to I/O modules, management modules, advanced management
modules, and pass through modules must be installed from a Trivial File
Transfer Protocol (TFTP) or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server. Use the Settings
function to specify TFTP or FTP server properties.

Update considerations for Hardware Management Console


systems
Hardware Management Console systems can have these items installed: updates,
upgrades, and interim fixes.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 333


Note these restrictions and hints for working with Hardware Management Console
updates:
v Only Hardware Management Console Version 7 Release V7.3.3 SP2, and later
versions and releases, are supported.
v Only Virtual I/O Server Version 1.5.2.1 and later fix packs are supported.
v Hardware Management Console upgrades are not supported for the installation
staging task. If installation staging is attempted, a message is displayed with
instructions for creating and using a CD to manually perform this task.
An ISO image is a disk image for an ISO 9660 file system, and contains the
installable files for a particular update or upgrade.
v A download is automatically performed for the ISO image, and the files that are
downloaded can be used for installation on the management server. You must
manually create a CD with this ISO image and then install the update from the
CD.
v Hardware Management Console upgrades are not supported for the installation
task. If you attempt an installation task, after having successfully performed a
manual installation staging task, a message is displayed with instructions for
installing the upgrades on each Hardware Management Console system. If you
attempt an installation task and installation staging has not been performed
manually, a message is displayed with the installation staging instructions using
CDs mentioned above.
v Uninstalling and rolling back Hardware Management Console updates,
upgrades, or interim fixes is not supported.
v Extended discovery or inventory discovery must be performed for the target
Hardware Management Console before using any Hardware Management
Console functions in update manager.
v Sometimes upgrades require that you install the media manually by storing the
obtained ISO image on a CD, for example, when there is no Hardware
Management Console update path to a new release. When a manual CD
installation is required, the upgrade ISO image must be downloaded using
update manager and stored in the

director install\data\updateslib\HMC\Update_ID

directory, where director install is the location of the IBM Systems Director
installation. Subsequently, if the Install task is chosen, installation instructions
are displayed to upgrade the Hardware Management Console manually using
the CD installation.

Update considerations for IBM i systems


Consider these factors when updating IBM i (formerly i5/OS) systems.
v Only IBM i Version 5 Release 4 and later releases are supported.
v To distribute and apply IBM i PTFs, a credential must be created authorizing the
user after IBM Systems Director has obtained access to the IBM i system. The
IBM i system must be an agentless-managed, platform-managed, or 5.20.x or
CAS managed system with access granted.
v Only complete Cumulative PTF packages and PTF Groups can be acquired, not
individual PTFs.
v Updates that are permanently installed on the system cannot be uninstalled.
v If an update requires a system restart, the administrator must perform the restart
manually. No automatic system restarts are performed for IBM i systems.

334 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


For more information about updating IBM i systems, see “Best practices for
working with updates for IBM i.”
Related reference

Best practices for working with updates for IBM i

Update considerations for Linux systems


Each Linux Distribution Partner provides updates for its specific Linux
distribution. To download updates and install them, you must have an Internet
connection and be registered with the Linux Distribution Partner.

Consider these factors when updating Linux systems.


v IBM Systems Director supports the application of updates only to Enterprise
Linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 5 and Enterprise Linux SUSE Linux
SLES Version 10 and Version 11.
v To apply Linux updates, each system must be registered with the update server
for the appropriate Linux distribution's update service.
See these Web sites for more information:
– For Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions, https://www.redhat.com or
https://rhn.redhat.com
– For SUSE Linux SLES distributions, http://www.novell.com or
http://www.novell.com/customercenter
v All Common Agents must be running at root level.
v You must have network connectivity between the management server, the target
system, and the Internet. The Internet connection is needed to obtain the
updates from the Linux Distribution Partner.
v The commands yum and rug must be installed on each system that is to receive
an update. If they are missing, no interactive messages are displayed, but the
error logs will indicate this error.
v Uninstalling updates and rolling back updates are not supported.
v The Linux system to receive updates must be a Common Agent managed
system.

Update considerations for IBM Power I/O firmware


Consider these factors when updating IBM Power I/O firmware.
v AIX is required on the target system to run IBM Power I/O firmware.
v Common Agent 6.2.1 is required on the target system to install IBM Power I/O
firmware.
v You must perform extended discovery or inventory collection for the target
system before working with IBM Power I/O firmware updates.
v Installation is not currently supported for network adapter.
v If you will update a shared device, ensure that it is not used on other partitions.
v You cannot use update manager to downgrade or roll back an IBM Power I/O
firmware level.
v The IBM Systems Director Web interface allows you to select multiple criteria
values at the same time. If you select the criteria value of All, other selected
criteria values are ignored.

Update considerations for Power Systems firmware


Consider these factors when updating Power Systems firmware.
v You must perform extended discovery or inventory collection for the target
system before working with Power Systems firmware updates.
Chapter 7. Updating systems 335
v If the target system is managed by Hardware Management Console or
Integrated Virtualization Manager, extended discovery or inventory collection
must be performed for the managing Integrated Virtualization Manager or
Hardware Management Console of the target system before using any Power
Systems firmware functions of update manager.
v For a stand-alone Power Systems server, the installation staging and installation
tasks require that the installed operating system (Linux or AIX) is available.
v The fix service provider will have only the firmware level 01SF240_338.201 for
POWER5™ Power Systems firmware.
v All POWER6® firmware will be available from the fix service provider.
v Some POWER5 and POWER6 systems have Bulk Power Control (BPC) firmware
to control each bulk power unit in the central processor complex (CPC) and
towers. This bulk power is attached to the frame. These systems must be
managed by a Hardware Management Console. When the Power Systems
firmware is updated for these systems, the bulk power firmware might require
updating as well. Update manager for Power Systems firmware will
automatically update this bulk power firmware in this situation.
An example is if you upgrade your POWER5 or POWER6 Power Systems
firmware to a new level and that level requires an update to the bulk power
firmware. Update manager will automatically download and install this bulk
power firmware as part of the Power Systems firmware download and
installation tasks.
v Power Systems firmware updates can be obtained from www.ibm.com/support/
fixcentral/.
v Some levels of Power Systems firmware being installed on a system managed by
Hardware Management Console require that the Hardware Management
Console managing the system to be at a minimum Hardware Management
Console level. See the readme file for the Power Systems firmware. If you
attempt to update the Power Systems firmware when the Hardware
Management Console is not at the required level, the task will fail and log an
appropriate message.
v Uninstalling and rolling back Power Systems firmware updates or upgrades is
not supported.

These are the configurations supported for updating Power Systems firmware:
v Standalone POWER5 and later systems running Linux or AIX, with the Common
Agent installed
v POWER5 Power Systems and later systems managed by Hardware Management
Console and running Linux, AIX, or IBM i (formerly i5/OS)
v POWER5 Power Systems and later systems (POWER6 Power Systems, and so
on) managed by Integrated Virtualization Manager, with Virtual I/O Server
1.5.2.1 and later fix packs

Update considerations for System x systems


Consider these factors when updating System x systems.
v You can use update manager to install updates to System x, but you cannot use
update manager to uninstall or roll back System x updates.

Update considerations for Virtual I/O Server systems


Updating Virtual I/O Server systems with IBM Systems Director by using a
migration image requires the use of Network Installation Management (NIM)
software. The NIM server must be running AIX 6.1 or later.

336 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


A NIM master is not required when updating Virtual I/O Server systems with fix
pack, service pack, or interim fix updates.

Terms used for updating Virtual I/O Server

These are terms you will encounter when you are working with Virtual I/O Server
updates:
Network Installation Manager (NIM) master
An AIX system that has been designated as a focal point to receive updates
and install them on other Virtual I/O Server systems, known as NIM
clients.
Network Installation Manager (NIM) client
A Virtual I/O Server system that will use a NIM master for migration.
Fix pack
A fix pack updates your Virtual I/O Server release to the latest level. A fix
pack update can contain product enhancements, new functions, and fixes.
Service Pack
A Service Pack applies to only one Virtual I/O Server level. A Service Pack
contains critical fixes for issues found between fix pack releases. A Service
Pack does not update Virtual I/O Server to a new level, and it can only be
applied to the fix pack release for which it is specified.
Interim fix (iFix)
An interim fix (iFix) applies to only one Virtual I/O Server level and
provides a fix for a specific issue.
Migration image
A Migration image supports the upgrade from a Virtual I/O Server version
to a newer version.

Tips for updating Virtual I/O Server

Be aware of these tips and restrictions when you are working with Virtual I/O
Server updates:
v Only Virtual I/O Server 1.5.2.1-FP11.1 and later releases are supported.
v You cannot use IBM Systems Director update manager to perform a fresh
installation of Virtual I/O Server.
v To perform an installation or installation staging for the Virtual I/O Server
migration image, your system must meet the following requirements:
– A NIM environment is required.
– An AIX NIM master is required to migrate Virtual I/O Server to higher
release, such as from Virtual I/O Server 1.5.2.1-FP11.1 to 2.1.0.0.
– Do not update the NIM master when you are migrating Virtual I/O Server
using that NIM master.
– The operating system level for the NIM master must be AIX 6.1 or later.
v Do not migrate to Virtual I/O Server 2.1.0.0 directly from a lower version such
as 1.5.2.1-FP11.1 because Virtual I/O Server 2.1.0.0 is not officially supported by
IBM Systems Director. Install the fix pack or Service Pack for Virtual I/O Server
2.1.0.0 directly when you are migrating from a version earlier than Virtual I/O
Server 2.1.0.0. The update manager for Virtual I/O Server extension will
automatically install Virtual I/O Server 2.1.0.0 and the selected fix pack or
service pack for you.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 337


Note: You also need a NIM environment because migrating to Virtual I/O
Server 2.1.0.0 is based on NIM operation
v If there are any LPARs managed by the Virtual I/O Server system, you must
close them before installing updates on the Virtual I/O Server system.
v Back up your system before migrating it to a higher release.
v When performing migration, the migration image will always be staged to a
NIM master. The image requires 16G of available space and will be put into a
separate file system named /export/um_lpp_source. If the file system does not
exist on the NIM master, IBM Systems Director update manager will create it. If
the file system does not have enough available space, IBM Systems Director
update manager will increase the size of the file system.
v For the installation of a fix pack, service pack, or iFix, 3G of available space is
required on the /opt file system of the target Virtual I/O Server system.
v The update manager for IBM Systems Director extension will automatically
accept the license if the update requires it.
v IBM Systems Director update manager does not support rollback for Virtual I/O
Server extensions.
v The size of some updates might exceed the file size limit of the system on which
IBM Systems Director Server is installed. Therefore, you should set the file size
limit to unlimited before proceeding. Refer to the system documentation for
information about checking and setting file size limits.
v If you distribute an update that is a migration image, the progress bar will reach
100% complete while the status is still running. The task will actually be
complete when the status is changed to Complete.
v Although the IBM Systems Director Web interface allows you to select multiple
criteria values at same time, only one of them will take effect:
– When the criteria value All is selected, other selected criteria values will be
ignored.
– When the criteria value All is not selected and the criteria value Latest
Upgrade is selected, only the latest upgrade takes effect. All other selected
criteria values will be ignored.

Update considerations for multi-node systems


Consider these items before updating system firmware on multi-node systems.

In a multi-node system, also called a scalable system, update manager is


responsible for keeping the following four types of system firmware at the same
level on all physical servers across the system:
v DSA
v FPGA
v IMM
v UEFI
To achieve this, if any system firmware update is needed on the physical server,
update manager marks the needed relationship on the top level system, also called
the cluster system. Then, during installation, the update is applied to all the
physical servers in the multi-node system.

Consider the following items when updating the system firmware on multi-node
systems:
v Before starting any system firmware update processes, ensure that the
multi-node systems are discovered with both inband mode and OOB mode. See

338 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Discovering a scalable BladeCenter system with multiple nodes for more
information about how to discover multi-node systems.
v When checking compliance, the system firmware is shown on the cluster
manageable endpoint of the multi-node system instead of on the physical server
system.
v The systems firmware updates are installed to all the physical server systems
when you install the update on the multi-node system. All the partition systems
are then rebooted after the installation.
Related tasks

Discovering scalable systems that have multiple nodes

Determining the installed IBM Systems Director version


Before you update an installation of IBM Systems Director, determine the version
of the IBM Systems Director Server or agent that is installed.

To determine the installed version of IBM Systems Director Server:


v Console: Check the version number of the IBM Systems Director Server
managers on the Welcome page.
v CLI: Run the smcli lsver command.

To determine the installed version of IBM Systems Director agent:


v From IBM Systems Director Server:
– Console: Check the version number in the Agent MEP properties.
– CLI: Run the smcli lssys command, with the ManagementSoftware attribute.
For example: lssys -A ManagementSoftware -i 9.22.103.245.
v (AIX only) From the IBM Systems Director agent:
– CLI: Run the lsagent.agent command.

Note: Maintenance is not delivered for every manager at each update or patch. For
example, a version 6.2.1 update might be released for automation manager without
the release of a corresponding update for configuration manager.
Related tasks

Planning to update
Related reference

lsagent.agent

lssys command

lsver command

Starting to monitor and update systems


To monitor and update systems, you must set up update manager correctly,
including choosing the systems to monitor. You must also ensure that a Check for
updates task is run on a recurring basis, and that someone is periodically checking
systems that have compliance issues. Lastly, you must install needed updates.

For systems that are to be monitored for update management and compliance
status, you must:
v Make sure that the systems are discovered and accessible.
Chapter 7. Updating systems 339
v Collect inventory on the systems. Most update manager methods cannot
determine the applicability of updates to a system unless inventory was
previously collected on the system.

Tip: Use the IBM Systems Director Pre-Install Utility to scan systems and identify
potential problems that could prevent IBM Systems Director from updating
successfully.

Tip: To protect your system in the event of an unforeseen complication, ensure


that you back up your data before performing any update tasks.
1. From the IBM Systems Director Web interface Welcome page, click Manage >
Update Manager. The update manager summary page is displayed.
2. Click the Getting started link in the upper right corner of the update manager
summary page and complete the Getting Started wizard. See “Getting started
with updates” for more information.
3. Click the Settings link in the upper right corner of the update manager
summary page and complete the Settings task. See “Changing update settings”
for more information.
4. Optional: Create additional update groups, to facilitate update management.
See “Managing update groups” for more information.
5. Acquire and install updates for the product or system that you want to update:
Update IBM Systems Director
If you want to simply update IBM Systems Director, use “Update IBM
Systems Director” to let update manager take most defaults and run
most update tasks for you automatically. See “Updating IBM Systems
Director” for more information.
Update other systems
If you want to update other systems, or if you want to update IBM
Systems Director but have full control over the whole process, use the
various update manager tasks in the IBM Systems Director Web
interface or the installneeded command to update your systems. See
“Acquiring and installing updates” for more information.
6. Schedule a Check for updates task to run periodically, at least once a week. See
“Checking for new updates” for more information.
7. Review the Update Compliance section of the update manager summary page
to check if your systems meet your update specifications. See “Keeping systems
in compliance” for more information.
8. If some systems need updates, review the exact compliance issues and address
them by planning to install the needed updates.
9. Periodically, perform Steps 7 and 8, or create an Event Automation Plan to
perform this task and notify you of any systems that are in need of updates.
See “Creating an event automation plan” for more information.

340 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related tasks

Creating an event automation plan


Related reference

Pre-Installation Utility

Configuring update manager


Before starting to manage updates, run the Getting Started wizard and Settings
function to customize your configuration.

To specify settings, go to the Update Manager summary page, click Getting started
in the upper right of the page, and complete the Getting Started wizard. Then click
Settings in the upper right of the page, and complete the pages that follow.

Getting started with updates


Use the Getting Started wizard to select systems to monitor and specify Internet
connection settings.

The Getting Started wizard is used to:


v Select a set of systems to monitor with compliance policies
v Create update groups for updates that are appropriate to the selected systems
v Configure Internet connectivity
v Run or schedule a check for updates

To run the Getting Started wizard, complete the following steps:


1. On the Update Manager summary page, click Getting started in the upper
right corner of the page. The Getting Started wizard displays a welcome
panel.
2. Optional: Clear Show the welcome page next time if you do not want to see
the Welcome page next time.
3. Click Next. The Name and Description page is displayed.
4. Type a name and optional description for the update group that is to be
created. This group is initially empty but will acquire the updates for the
systems that were selected. It is also attached to these systems through a
compliance policy. Update manager will monitor the systems and indicate
when a system is missing a needed update from the group.
5. Click Next. The Systems page is displayed.
6. Optional: The IBM Systems Director Server is selected by default. Select it and
click Remove if you do not want monitoring of this system.
7. Select at least one system, which must be accessible, and click Add. These
systems will be automatically associated with an update group through
system compliance policies. If a selected system cannot be monitored, an error
message is displayed.
8. Click Next. The Connection page is displayed.
9. Indicate how the Internet is to be accessed to check for and acquire updates:
v Click Use direct connection if a direct Internet connection exists and you
want it used.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 341


v Click Use Proxy server if your proxy server requires authentication. A
proxy can be an HTTP proxy or a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
(HTTPS) proxy, and must be configured and made available by your
organization.
a. Type the host name and port number of the proxy server.
b. Click Authenticate using the following credentials if you want to
access the proxy server with a user ID and password. Type the user ID
and password for the proxy server.

Note: To check for updates, the IBM Systems Director Server must have
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) Internet access. This access can be through a
direct connection or through a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) proxy. If an
IPv4 connection is unavailable, updates can be imported.
10. Optional: Click Test Connection if you want to test the connection settings
that you have specified.
11. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
12. This page lists the types of updates that will be added to the update group to
monitor the selected systems, and when a check for updates is run. Verify the
information on this page:
v If the information is correct, click Finish. The common launch-task window
is displayed to schedule a check for updates for the selected systems.
Schedule this check to run on a recurring basis, not just once.
v If the information is incorrect, click Back to return to previous pages and
correct the information.
13. Specify notification and schedule settings for the task that is being launched.
In addition to launching a check for updates task, the wizard creates an
update group using the default update criteria for the systems that were
selected. A compliance check is created for each selected system to ensure that
it complies with this newly created group.
Related tasks

Navigating tables

Changing update settings


Use Settings to provide Internet connection settings, specify where to store new
updates, and set a size limit on the storage location for the updates.

This task is used to specify details about the update process. This task also
specifies settings that are unique to AIX and IBM BladeCenter systems.

To change settings, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, click the Settings link in the top
right corner. The Connection page is displayed.
2. Optional: Click Test Connection. The connectivity to the update download site
over the Internet is tested, and you receive a message indicating whether the
test succeeded or failed.
3. Examine and modify the connection settings.

Note: This is the same information as what is displayed on the Connection


page of the Getting Started wizard.
If the management server has direct access to the update download site over
the Internet, select "Use direct connection." If the management server does not
have direct access to the update download site over the Internet, however,
342 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
select "Use proxy server" to configure the management server to access the
Internet through the proxy server that you specify.

Note: To check for updates, the IBM Systems Director Server must have
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) Internet access. This access can be through a
direct connection or through a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) proxy. If an
IPv4 connection is unavailable, updates can be imported.
4. Click Location.
a. Specify the amount of disk storage on the management server that will be
allocated for update files when they are downloaded. Type the maximum
size in megabytes. Update files will not occupy more disk space than the
maximum value specified here.
b. Specify the storage location to use for the update files when they are
downloaded.
5. If you are monitoring AIX systems, click AIX and specify the necessary
information in the page.
6. If you are monitoring Virtual I/O Server systems, click Virtual I/O Server and
specify the necessary information in the page.
7. If you are monitoring IBM BladeCenter systems, click BladeCenter and specify
the necessary information in the page.
8. Click OK.
Related tasks

Navigating tables

Specifying AIX update settings


For AIX, a NIM master must be specified. This system receives updates to be
installed to other AIX systems. A page in the Settings function is used to do this.

If the AIX NIM master is not chosen before an installation staging for an AIX
update is performed, the Settings function is displayed as part of the installation
staging operation.

If the AIX NIM master is not chosen before an installation or uninstallation task for
an AIX update is invoked, the same situation occurs; the Settings function is
displayed as part of the operation.

To specify AIX setting, complete the following steps:


1. From the Settings task, click AIX. The AIX page is displayed.
2. Click Browse to see a context chooser with a list of systems.
3. Choose the system that is the AIX NIM master.
4. Click OK.

Specifying IBM BladeCenter update settings


A tab on the Settings function labeled IBM BladeCenter is used to choose which
file transfer protocol and servers are to be used when running the installation
staging and installation tasks.

Note: There is a 64 character limit on the length of the relative path and file names
for updates installed from TFTP servers with SNMP. This includes updates to IBM
BladeCenter Management Modules and IBM BladeCenter Passthrough Modules.
The 64 character limit is for the sum of the lengths of:
v The relative path to updates field

Chapter 7. Updating systems 343


v The build identifier for the specific update
v The update firmware file names

Therefore, the relative path to updates field must be kept as short as possible if
IBM BladeCenter Management Modules or IBM BladeCenter Passthrough Modules
will be updated.

No such length limit applies to switch module updates installed from TFTP or FTP
servers.

Some IBM BladeCenter updates support only using FTP, and some support only
using TFTP. View the update properties to see the supported protocols. If an
update supports both TFTP and FTP, TFTP is used.

If no TFTP or FTP server is chosen before an installation staging task is performed,


the Settings function is displayed as part of the installation staging operation.

If no TFTP or FTP server is chosen before an installation task is performed, the


same situation occurs - the Settings page is displayed as part of the operation.

To specify IBM BladeCenter settings, complete the following steps:


1. From the Settings task, click BladeCenter. The IBM BladeCenter Settings page
is displayed
2. Select one of these choices to answer this question: Which system do you
want to use as the TFTP server?
v Do not use a TFTP server. If the TFTP server included with the
management server has been enabled, choosing this option will disable it.
You will not be able to install updates on Management Modules and certain
I/O Modules that require a TFTP server if no TFTP server is specified.
v Use the management server as a TFTP server. This starts and uses the
TFTP server included with the management server.
v Use system.
Use a TFTP server on an external system. If the TFTP server included with
the management server has been enabled, choosing this option will disable
it. Select a system. Click Browse to see details about a given system.
3. Select a Network interface (IP address). This option is to choose an alternate
network interface for the server specified in the Use system. selection.
4. In the TFTP root directory field, type the full path to the root directory of the
TFTP server (for example, '/tftpboot' or 'C:\Program Files\TFTPServer\
tftpboot'). This path is used to automatically distribute files to the TFTP
server.
5. Optional: In the Relative path to updates field, if the update files are located
in a subdirectory of the TFTP server root directory, specify the relative path of
that subdirectory (for example: 'update_manager/updates'). If no path is
provided, the TFTP server root directory is assumed as the path where the
update files are stored.
6. Select one of these choices to answer this question: Which system do you
want to use as the FTP server?.
v Do not use an FTP server. An FTP server will not be used for the
installation staging and install tasks.
You will not be able to install updates on certain I/O Modules that require
an FTP server if no FTP server is specified.

344 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Use system
Use an FTP server on an external system. Select a system. Click Browse to
see details about a given system.
7. Select a Network interface (IP address). This option is to choose an alternate
network interface for the server specified in the Use system. selection.
8. In the FTP user home directory field, type the full path of the FTP user's
home directory on the FTP server (for example: '/home/ftpuser'). This path is
used to automatically distribute files to the FTP server.
9. Optional: In the Relative path to updates field, if the update files are located
in a subdirectory of the FTP user's home directory, specify the relative path of
that subdirectory (for example, 'update_manager/updates'). If no path is
provided, the FTP user's home directory is assumed as the path where the
update files are stored.
10. Type the FTP server credentials:
a. User name
b. Password

Note: Anonymous FTP (user name of 'anonymous') is supported. However,


for Anonymous FTP, the need for a password (or the form of the password) is
a requirement of the FTP server itself.
11. Click OK to have these choices take effect.
Related tasks

Managing configuration templates

Running Discovery and unlocking storage devices using SMI-S providers

Specifying Virtual I/O Server update settings


For a Virtual I/O Server upgrade (migration), a NIM master must be specified.
This system receives updates to be installed to other Virtual I/O Server systems. A
page in the Settings function is used to do this.

If the Virtual I/O Server NIM master is not chosen before an installation staging
for a Virtual I/O Server upgrade is performed, the Settings function is displayed as
part of the installation staging operation.

If the Virtual I/O Server NIM master is not chosen before an installation task for a
Virtual I/O Server upgrade is invoked, the same situation occurs; the Settings
function is displayed as part of the operation.

Note: The NIM master is required only when upgrading Virtual I/O Server to a
later release.

To specify the Virtual I/O Server setting, complete the following steps:
1. From the Settings task, click Virtual I/O Server. The Virtual I/O Server page is
displayed.
2. Click Browse to see a context chooser with a list of systems.
3. Choose the system that is the NIM master.
4. Click OK.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 345


Related concepts
Update considerations for Virtual I/O Server systems

Updating IBM Systems Director


Use “Update IBM Systems Director” in the IBM Systems Director Web interface to
automatically obtain and install all types of updates for IBM Systems Director.

Consider these points when updating IBM Systems Director:


v Most update manager methods cannot determine the applicability of updates to
a system unless inventory was previously collected on the system.
v You must restart IBM Systems Director to activate installed updates.

To instruct update manager to take most defaults and update IBM Systems
Director almost automatically, complete the following steps:
1. From the IBM Systems Director Web interface Welcome page, click Update IBM
Systems Director. When the check for updates task completes, the updates
needed by the IBM Systems Director Server are displayed in the table.
2. Optional: If your management server does not have an IPv4 connection to the
Internet, you can download IBM Systems Director updates from
www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/ and then use update manager to import
and install the updates. See “Downloading IBM Systems Director updates
without an Internet connection” for more information.
3. Click Download and Install to run or schedule the update.
4. After the installation is complete, restart IBM Systems Director to activate the
updates.
Related tasks

Determining disk space requirements for applying updates


Related reference

Restarting the server

installneeded command

Using advanced actions for updating IBM Systems Director


You can use update manager to selectively obtain and install updates for IBM
Systems Director.

You can use advanced actions to manually check for IBM Systems Director updates
and selectively run or schedule update tasks. This update method enables you to
manage and monitor all steps in the update process and can be useful if problems
are encountered during an automatic update.

Consider these points when updating IBM Systems Director:


v Most update manager methods cannot determine the applicability of updates to
a system unless inventory was previously collected on the system.
v You must restart IBM Systems Director to activate installed updates.

To use advanced actions to update IBM Systems Director, complete the following
steps:
1. From the Welcome page, click Update IBM Systems Director.

346 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. From the IBM Systems Director page, click Advanced. The Advanced Updates
for IBM Systems Director page opens.
3. Click Check for updates to run or schedule a check for new updates. When the
check for updates task completes, the updates needed by IBM Systems Director
Server are displayed in the table.
4. Optional: If your management server does not have an IPv4 connection to the
Internet, you can download IBM Systems Director updates from
www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/ and then use update manager to import
and install the updates. See “Downloading IBM Systems Director updates
without an Internet connection” for more information.
5. In the table, select the updates that you want to install, and then click Install to
start the Install wizard.
6. After the installation is complete, restart IBM Systems Director to activate the
updates.
Related tasks

Installing agents using the Agent Installation Wizard

Determining disk space requirements for applying updates


Related reference

Restarting the server

Downloading IBM Systems Director updates without an


Internet connection
If the management server does not have an Internet connection, you can manually
download IBM Systems Director update packages. After an update package has
been downloaded and extracted, you can use update manager to schedule when to
import and install the updates.

To manually download and import IBM Systems Director updates, complete the
following steps:
1. Go to www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/. The Fix Central page opens.
Complete the following steps on the Fix Central page to locate and download
the needed update package:
a. From the Product Group list, select IBM Systems Director.
b. From the Product list, select IBM Systems Director if it is not already
selected.
c. From the Installed Version list, select your current version.
d. From the Platform list, select All.
e. Click Continue. The Select fixes page is displayed.
f. Select the fix group that you want to download and then click Continue.
The Download options page is displayed.
g. Select the Download using Download Director and Include prerequisites
and corequisite fixes (you can deselect the ones you don't need later)
options, and then click Continue. The Terms and conditions page is
displayed.
h. Select I agree if you agree to the terms and conditions. The Download files
using Download Director page is displayed.
i. Click Download now to start the download of the update package. The
update package downloads to the designated location.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 347


2. Extract the downloaded update package to a local management server directory
that is close to the root directory.
3. Import and install the updates using either the command line or the IBM
Systems Director Web interface:
Command line
Run the following command to import and install the updates:
smcli installneeded -v -F updates_path

where updates_path is the full local directory path that contains the
files that were extracted from the downloaded update package.
IBM Systems Director Web interface
Complete the following steps to import and install the updates:
a. From the IBM Systems Director Web interface Welcome page, click
Update IBM Systems Director.
b. On the Update IBM Systems Director page, click Stop to stop the
task that checks for new updates and instead displays options for
downloading and importing updates.
c. In the Path field, type the full local directory path that contains the
files that were extracted from the downloaded update package.
d. Click Import and Install to run or schedule the import and
installation of the updates.
4. After the installation is complete, restart IBM Systems Director to activate the
updates.
Related tasks

Determining disk space requirements for applying updates


Related reference

Fix Central

Acquiring and installing updates


Use IBM Systems Director Web interface tasks or the installneeded command to
update your systems with update manager.

Acquiring and installing updates with the IBM Systems


Director Web interface
Use the update manager tasks in the IBM Systems Director Web interface to check
for updates, download and import updates, stage your installation, manage update
groups, and install updates on your systems.

Showing needed updates


Use the Show needed updates function to identify updates that are needed by
your systems.

This function does not show information for systems for which you have not
collected inventory.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

348 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


This function can be used on systems or system groups. If you select a system
group, this task will display only those systems within the group that are in need
of updates.

The list of needed updates is produced by comparing the updates that IBM
Systems Director has knowledge of to the inventory on your systems. This task
does not list as needed any update that IBM Systems Director does not know
about. An important part of keeping your systems up-to-date is running the Show
needed updates function and reviewing the results.

To see a list of updates needed by a system, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Updates section.
2. Click Show needed updates. The Show Needed Updates page is displayed.
3. Select a system or system group in the Selected systems field. Click Browse to
see a list of systems to choose from.
4. Click Show Needed Updates. A table of needed updates is displayed.
5. Examine the table. There is one line for each update and details about the
update.

Notes:
v If you do not see an update that you expected to see, you can view all
updates that are available for a system by selecting Show all available
updates.
v Certain listed updates, for example UpdateXpress System Pack updates for a
IBM BladeCenter blade server or chassis, are actually update collections that
contain one or more member updates that are combined into one installable
image. To view the member updates within the update collection, right-click
on the update collection and select “Update”. For more information, see your
product documentation.

Update tasks such as Install can be done from this page by clicking Actions and
selecting an available task.
Related tasks

Navigating tables
Related reference

installneeded command

Showing available updates


Use the Show available updates function to identify updates that are available to
your systems.

This function does not show information for systems for which you have not
collected inventory.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

This function can be used on systems or system groups. If you select a system
group, this task will display only those systems within the group that have
available updates.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 349


The list of available updates is produced by comparing the updates that IBM
Systems Director has knowledge of to the inventory on your systems. This task
does not list as available any update that IBM Systems Director does not know
about.

To see a list of updates available for a system, complete the following steps:
1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Updates section.
2. Click Show needed updates. The Show Needed Updates page is displayed.
3. From the Show Needed Updates page, click Show all available updates. The
Show Available Updates page is displayed.
4. Examine the table. There is one line for each update and details about the
update.

Update tasks such as Install can be done from this page by clicking Actions and
selecting an available task.
Related tasks

Navigating tables

Showing installed updates


Use the Show installed updates function to determine which updates are installed
on a particular system. This task shows those updates that were installed by IBM
Systems Director. Updates installed by other means are not displayed.

This function does not show information for systems whose inventory you have
not collected.

Update tasks such as Uninstall can be done from this page by clicking Actions and
selecting an available task.

To change which update properties are displayed on the table, their position in the
table, or the field sizes, click Actions > Columns.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To see a list of updates installed on a particular system, complete the following


steps:
1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Update Compliance
section.
2. Click Show installed updates from the System Tasks group. The Show
Installed Updates page is displayed.
3. Select a system or system group in the Selected systems field. Click Browse to
see a list of systems to choose from.
4. Click Show Installed Updates. A table of installed updates is displayed.
5. Examine the table. There is one line for each update and details about the
update.
Related tasks

Navigating tables

Checking for new updates


Use the Check for updates task to periodically load new updates into update
manager. Schedule a check for updates to run frequently, at least once a week.
350 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Note: To check for updates, the IBM Systems Director Server must have Internet
Protocol version 4 (IPv4) Internet access. This access can be through a direct
connection or through a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) proxy. If an IPv4
connection is unavailable, updates can be imported.

To check for new updates, complete the following steps:


1. Select Check for updates from the Updates section of the Update Manager
summary page. The Check for updates page is displayed.
2. Select the types of updates that you want to check.
3. Optional: Click Remove to remove any entries that have been selected in
error.
4. Click OK. A scheduling task is displayed
5. Optional: Type a job name.
6. Choose when to run the job:
v Click Run Now to run the job right away.
v Click Schedule and choose a date and time for the check for updates, as
well as the Repeat Options for running the check.
You are advised to schedule a repeating check, because it ensures that you
are aware of new updates as they become available. You are also advised to
choose a time when system load is light, so that the job will complete
quickly.
7. Click Notifications and enter notification options.
8. Click Options and enter other options.
9. Click OK.
10. If any new updates are found, update manager will be automatically made
aware of them. Examine any static update groups that you have created to see
if the new updates must be added.

This is an alternative, system-based approach. Go to the Navigate Resources area


and select a system or system group. Click Actions > Release Management >
Check for Updates. This will scope the check for updates to just that type of
system or systems in the group.

From this path, you can optionally choose to perform a check for updates based on
the compliance policy of the system.

Tip: Schedule a check for updates to run periodically and frequently, at least once
a week.
Related reference

checkupd command

Update types:

The various operating systems and firmware that can be updated by IBM Systems
Director have unique update types. The update type is used when a check for
updates is scheduled, or when a compliance policy is created for a system.

Update types for AIX:

These update types are used for AIX systems.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 351


All Request a specific Technology Level or Service Pack. This choice copies all
the technology level and service pack metadata to the management server.
Update to recommended level
Update to the recommended service pack level. When an AIX system is
chosen from the Getting Started wizard, this type is the default value. If
the newest technology level does not have a recommended service pack,
the AIX system will be updated to the newest technology level that does
have a recommended service pack.
Update to latest level
Remain on the same technology level, but update to the latest service pack
level.
Upgrade to recommended level
Upgrade the technology level to the recommended level. This is likely to
upgrade AIX to a new service pack on the new technology level.
Upgrade to latest level
Upgrade the technology level to the latest level. Typically, AIX is updated
to a new service pack on the new technology level.

Update types for System x and IBM BladeCenter:

These are the update types for System x and IBM BladeCenter systems.
System x and Blades
Categories
ASR Driver
Automatic Server Restart Driver
BIOS System BIOS updates
BMC/H8
BMC/H8 Updates
CD ROM / DVD
Chipset-INF
Server Chipset Device Drivers/INF files
Diagnostics
Diagnostic flash updates
Fibre Fibre Channel updates
Hard Disk Drive
Hard disk drive firmware updates
Hot Plug
Active PCI Device Driver updates
iSCSI Internet SCSI updates
Network
Network Device Driver and firmware updates
PLD Code
CPLD and FPGA firmware updates
RSA RSA Firmware updates
RSA II
RSA II firmware updates

352 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


SAS Serial Attached SCSI updates
SATA Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) updates
SCSI Small Compute Systems Interface (SCSI) updates
ServeRAID
ServeRAID updates
Service Pack Driver
Service Processor (including RSA and RSA II) Device
Driver updates
Tape Tape Drive firmware updates
UXSP UpdateXpress System Pack

Note: On a IBM BladeCenter blade server or chassis,


UpdateXpress System Pack updates are actually update
collections that contain one or more member updates
combined into one installable image. For more information
about UpdateXpress System Packs, see
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/toolsctr/v1r0/
index.jsp.
Video Video Device Driver updates
Severity
Initial Release
Critical
Suggested
Non-Critical
IBM BladeCenter
Categories
Switches
Out of band I/O Module updates
Management Module
Management Module and Advanced Management Module
firmware updates
Severity
Initial Release
Critical
Suggested
Non-Critical

When chosen from the Getting Started wizard, all System x updates are selected by
default.

Update types for Hardware Management Console:

These are the update types for Hardware Management Console systems.
All Used to request all updates.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 353


Update to recommended level
Remain on the same version and release, but update to the recommended
modification level. This is the default when a Hardware Management
Console system is chosen from the Getting Started wizard.
Update to latest level
Remain on the same version and release, but update to the latest
modification level.
Upgrade to recommended level
Upgrade the version and release to the recommended level.
Upgrade to latest level
Upgrade the release to the latest level within the current version. For
example, if you are currently at V7R3.3.0M0 and you request Upgrade to
latest level, you might get an update to V7R4.0.0M0, but you will not get
one for V8.

Update types for IBM Systems Director and IBM Director:

These are the update types for IBM Systems Director and IBM Director.
IBM Director
5.20 IBM Director 5.20
6.1 IBM Systems Director 6.1
6.2 IBM Systems Director 6.2

Update types for IBM i systems:

These are the update types for IBM i (formerly i5/OS) systems.
PTF Groups
Operating System PTF Groups
Include IBM DB2 UDB, High Impact or Pervasive and other PTF
Groups. The list of PTF groups varies depending on the IBM i
version being updated.
IBM WebSphere® Application Server PTF Groups
Includes updates for IBM WebSphere Application Server products
supported by IBM i. The list of PTF groups varies depending on
the IBM i version being updated.

Update types for Linux:

These are the update types for Linux systems.


Red Hat EL
Security
Fixes to defects that have the potential to compromise system,
network, or user security. They are categorized according to their
severity:
v Critical
v Important
v Moderate
v Low

354 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Bug Fixes
Fixes to defects that do not compromise system, network, or user
security.
Enhancements
New features
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Category
v Recommended
v Optional
v Security

Update types for IBM Power I/O firmware:

These are the update types for IBM Power I/O firmware.
All Used to request all updates.
Update to latest level
Remain on the same version and release, but update to the latest
modification level.

Update types for Power Systems firmware:

These are the update types for Power Systems firmware.


All Used to request all updates.
Update to recommended level
Remain on the same version and release, but update to the recommended
modification level. This is the default choice when Power Systems
firmware is chosen from the Getting Started wizard.
Update to latest level
Remain on the same version and release, but update to the latest
modification level.
Upgrade to recommended level
Upgrade the version and release to the recommended level.
Upgrade to latest level
Upgrade the version and release to the latest level.

Update types for Virtual I/O Server systems:

These update types are used for Virtual I/O Server systems.
All Request all updates on FSP, including migration, fix packs, service packs,
and interim fixes.
Latest Update
Remain on the same release, but update to the latest fix pack, service pack
level, and interim fix.
Latest Upgrade
Request the latest release of Virtual I/O Server and the most current
interim fix on the latest release. When a Virtual I/O Server system is
chosen from the Getting Started wizard, this type is the default value.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 355


Downloading updates
While the download of updates happens automatically as needed, you might want
to download updates when it is most convenient for your network, and to ensure
that the updates are available at the time of installation.

You can choose to download the installable files for the update to the management
server if you have interest in installing the update, and want to make the
installation process run faster when it is scheduled. Downloading the updates
ahead of installation ensures that the valuable time allocated for system
maintenance (when typically systems are not available to the users) is not spent on
tasks such as downloading, which does not require exclusive system access.

You are not required to run the download task. If the installable files for the
update have not been downloaded when the installation task is scheduled, the
download task is automatically be invoked before the installation task.

It is important to note that the membership of an update group is not resolved at


the time that a task using the groups is scheduled. The membership of the update
group is resolved at the time that the task runs.

To download updates, complete the following steps:


1. From any panel where a list of updates is present, click Actions > Download.
2. You will see a summary panel explaining which updates are to be downloaded
to the management server. Click OK.
3. The task scheduler is displayed. Choose to either run the download now or
schedule it for later.
4. When the download task is used on a selection of updates that must be
manually downloaded, a message is issued stating that not all the updates can
be automatically downloaded. You can click Download manually to display
the manual download page. Follow the instructions on that page to complete
this process.
Related tasks

Navigating tables
Related reference

importupd command

Downloading manual updates:

Some updates must be downloaded manually. An example of an update that


requires a manual download is an update that requires a licensing agreement.

There might be some updates that cannot be automatically downloaded due to


licensing restrictions. In this case, the downloaded column for the update will
contain the text No, manual download. When you try to download this type of
update, you will see instructions for a manual download.

When you select the download task on an update menu, a panel is displayed to
guide you through visiting the appropriate Web site, downloading the update, and
then copying the installable files for the update.

To perform a manual download of an update, complete the following steps:

356 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. From the update menu page, select Actions > Download. A panel with
instructions for each manual download is displayed.
2. Select one update and click Actions > Download. This launches a Web browser
to the appropriate Web site for downloading the installable files for the update.
3. If a licensing agreement is displayed, read it and any other information
presented to you. Accept the licensing agreement if you want to continue.
4. The download retrieves the installable files for the update. Make a note of their
location.
5. Close the browser for the download link. You will return to the Download
Updates page.
6. Put the location of the update installable files (from Step 4) in the Files to
import field.
7. Optional: Click Browse to browse the directory.
8. Repeat this step for each update that requires a manual download.
9. Click OK to import the updates you have downloaded.

After an update has been manually downloaded, it can be managed the same way
as any other update.

Importing updates
Use the Import update function to copy one or more updates from a directory on
the management server to the update library.

To import updates, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manger summary page, locate the Updates section.
2. Click Import updates.
3. In the Path field, type the directory of the update files on the management
server.

Note: The specified path must be to a local directory. Network mounted


directories cannot be used.
All updates found within the specified directory will be copied to the update
library. You cannot select specific updates from this directory.
4. Click OK. The scheduler is displayed. You can then choose to run the task now
or to schedule it to run in the future.
Related reference

importupd command

Exporting updates
Use the Export function to copy updates from the update library to a target
directory on the management server. The target directory must be accessible to the
management server.

To export updates, complete these steps:


1. From any list of updates, select the ones that you want to export.
2. Click Actions > Export updates.
3. Specify a location for the update files by typing the path name on the
management server in the Path field.
4. Click OK. The scheduler is displayed. You can then choose to run the task now
or schedule it to run in the future.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 357


Related reference

lsupd command

Using the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration


file to check for updates to systems that are outside of your
environment
Use this procedure only in situations where the normal update tasks cannot be
performed. Customize the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration
file so that you can check for updates and download updates for systems that you
have not discovered or for which you have not collected inventory using IBM
Systems Director.

To modify the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file for a
particular System x or IBM BladeCenter system, complete the following steps:
1. Open the file in a text editor. The System x and IBM BladeCenter platform
configuration file is named director install/data/xbc_platforms.cfg where director
install is the directory in which IBM Systems Director has been installed.
2. Using the guidelines in the file itself, add the machine type, operating system,
and architecture combination for the system that you want to manage.
3. Save the file.

Now this system will be listed by update manager and update tasks can be
performed for this system.

The System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file:

An System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file can be used to


specify systems that you have not discovered or collected inventory for with IBM
Systems Director. This file is then used to perform update tasks on the systems
listed in the file.

This capability applies to System x and IBM BladeCenter systems. A blank System
x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file is created automatically on the
management server the first time that any System x or IBM BladeCenter update
criterion is displayed. You can customize this file for systems that have not been
discovered by IBM Systems Director so that their updates can be downloaded.

The System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file has this name:

director install/data/xbc_platforms.cfg

where director install is the directory in which IBM Systems Director has been
installed.

System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file format

In the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file, each entry is on
a separate line The file has these fields, separated by commas:
Machine type
The 4-digit machine type of the System x or IBM BladeCenter server.
Operating system
The operating system running on the System x or IBM BladeCenter server.

358 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Architecture
The architecture of the operating system. This value will typically match
the architecture of the server, although it is possible to run 32-bit Windows
on an EM64T-based Server.

Attention: The values that you specify for Operating system and Architecture are
case sensitive. For these two fields, please use an example entry as a basis for a
new entry to avoid errors.

Tasks used with the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file

Use the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file to select the
machine type and operating system criteria for an update group, or to control the
check for updates task. For each of these update manager tasks, consider these
points:
Check for updates (selected from the Update Manager summary)
If the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file contains
machine type and operating system entries, the Check for Update panel
will display these values. You can use them as you would any other
selection on this page.
If an entry in the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration
file contains a wildcard, all values that match the wildcard will be selected
when this entry is selected.
Check for Updates (selected in the context of a system and then choosing
Custom)
The System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file is not
needed because the machine type and operating system information is
provided by the selected system.
Create an update group
The values in the System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration
file are displayed when you are creating update groups. Create a dynamic
update group and choose the entries from the System x and IBM
BladeCenter platform configuration file that you are interested in.

Sample System x and IBM BladeCenter platform configuration file:

This sample file can be used to download updates for systems that are not present
in your environment.

The entries are commented out. Remove the number sign (#) for each entry that
you want to use.

#Machine Type, Operating System, Architecture


#Operating System Choices:
#RHEL 3
#RHEL 4
#RHEL 5
#SLES 8
#SLES 9
#SLES 10
#AIX
#Windows 2000
#Windows 2003
#Windows XP

Chapter 7. Updating systems 359


#Windows Vista
#Architecture Choices:
#blank indicates i386 or x86
#x64
#ppc
#For Out-of-Band updates specify NONE for both
#Operating System and Architecture
#Examples:
#8843,RHEL 3,
#8843,RHEL 3,x64
#8843,RHEL 4,
#8843,RHEL 4,x64
#8843,RHEL 5,
#8843,RHEL 5,x64
#8843,SLES 8,
#8843,SLES 8,x64
#8843,SLES 9,
#8843,SLES 9,x64
#8843,SLES 10,
#8843,SLES 10,x64
#8843,Windows 2000,
#8843,Windows 2003,
#8843,Windows 2003,x64
#8843,Windows XP,
#8843,Windows XP,x64
#8843,Windows Vista,
#8843,Windows Vista,x64
#8842,RHEL 3,ppc
#8842,RHEL 4,ppc
#8842,RHEL 5,ppc
#8842,SLES 8,ppc
#8842,SLES 9,ppc
#8842,SLES 10,ppc
#8842,AIX,ppc
#8852,NONE,NONE

Installation staging
Use installation staging to copy the files that comprise an update to an appropriate
location for eventual installation. That location might not be the system that the
update is to be installed on. This task is not required. If you skip this step, the
update is staged when it is needed. This task is provided to save time during
installation maintenance windows, in order to minimize system downtime and
unavailability.

The task of installation staging is accomplished by running the Installation staging


wizard on an update. The Installation staging wizard guides you through the task
of copying the installable files for an update from the management server to an
appropriate location for eventual installation.

If the installable files for an update have not been previously downloaded, a
download is run before the installation staging is performed.

It is important to note that the membership of an update group is not resolved at


the time that a task using the group is scheduled. The membership of the update
group is resolved at the time that the task runs.

360 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To perform an installation staging for an update, complete the following steps:
1. Click Actions > Installation staging on the menus for an update or update
group. The page of the Installation staging wizard is displayed.
2. Clear the Show this welcome page next time box if you do not want to see
the Welcome page again.
3. Click Next. The Updates page is displayed. The Updates page is skipped if
the Installation staging wizard was invoked from an update or update group.
In this case, proceed to Step 5.
4. Select each update that you want. If an update that is part of an update
collection is chosen, a warning is issued because it is advisable to install the
update collection as a whole.
5. If you select updates that require a manual download, these updates cannot
be staged until you manually download them. The Downloads required panel
will be displayed.
a. Click Details to manually download updates.
b. Click Continue, the updates are now downloaded and ready when you
have completed the manual download.
c. Click Skip the updates which must be manually downloaded if you do
not want to manually download these updates, or the process has failed
for one or more of them. Those updates will be removed from the list and
will not be staged.
d. Click Next The Systems page is displayed.
6. You can stage updates for installation by selecting the systems or system
groups that the updates are to be installed on. Select the system or system
group name and click Add
Be aware that if you selected system groups, the list of individual systems in
these groups is not determined until the task runs. You are presented options
only for those systems that were individually selected. Group membership is
not determined until the task runs.
7. If some of the updates are for AIX or IBM BladeCenter systems, and you had
not already specified the necessary AIX or IBM BladeCenter options on the
Settings page, it is displayed so that you can choose these options.
8. Click Next. The Options page is displayed.
9. If you do not want updates that are required for the installation of the
selected updates to also be staged for installation, clear Automatically stage
missing required updates. Clearing this box is not advised. Missing
mandatory updates will cause the installation task to fail.
10. A table of the known update requirements for each selected update is
displayed.
a. Select a system from the list of systems to see its update requirements.
b. Review the required updates that will be installed when Automatically
stage missing required updates is selected. You cannot edit the required
updates here.
11. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
12. Review the information on this page.
v If it is correct, click Finish. A panel is displayed for you to specify
notification and schedule settings for the installation staging task being
launched by this wizard.
v If some information is incorrect, click Back to go to previous pages and
correct the information, or click Cancel to cancel the entire process.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 361


Related tasks

Navigating tables
Related reference

installupd command

Viewing information about updates


Information about updates and updates groups is often needed to decide whether
to install the update.
Related reference

lsupd command

The update topology perspective:

The Updates topology perspective displays a topology view tailored to the


system's update-related resources.

From any place within update manager where you can display a system, click
Actions > Topology Perspectives.

By default, a topology perspective contains all resources related to the system. The
Updates perspective limits the resource types to update-related resources that are
installed on, needed by, or applicable to the system. The following resources types
are included in the Updates perspective:
v systems
v updates
v update collections

Click the displayed resources to see the relationships displayed in the Properties
table.

Relationships for updates and update collections:

Update relationships indicate how an update relates to other updates and target
systems. The Topology view is a good way to illustrate update relationships.

This is a list of all update relationships. To simplify this discussion, the term
'update' refers to either an individual update or an update collection, unless
otherwise noted.
appliesTo
Indicates systems that an update can be installed on at this time. You can
view updates that can be installed on a system by navigating the appliesTo
relationship from the system's Related Resources submenu.
federates
Specifies the individual updates that are contained in an update collection.
installedOn
Indicates systems where the update is currently installed. You can view
where a specific update is installed by following the installedOn
relationship from the update's context menu.
This displays the systems where the update is installed using a table view.

362 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


This table view can be switched to a topology map to display a graphical
layout instead of a topology. In the topology map, the installed on
relationships between the updates and the systems are displayed.
needs Indicates updates that a system needs.
Several updates might applyTo a system, but the system might only need
one of those updates. An example is the situation where one update
supersedes another.
You can see where an update is needed for installation by following its
needs relationship using the resource navigator.
When an update is imported or acquired, the needs and appliesTo
relationships for the update and affected systems are automatically
synchronized so that the new update can be properly managed, and
compliance policies remain accurate.
This table view can be switched to a topology map to display a graphical
layout instead of a topology. In the topology map, the needs relationships
between the updates and the systems are displayed.
requires
Indicates that this update requires another update to be installed.
supersedes
Indicates that this update supersedes another update, meaning that the
other update is not needed if this one is installed.

Displaying recently found updates:

Updates that have recently become available are of importance to you, as they can
be critical fixes or useful enhancements. Use the Show all known updates function
to periodically display these new updates, read their details, and decide whether to
download and install them on your systems.

The All updates group, which is predefined, can be used to perform similar work.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view a list of recently found updates, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Updates section.
2. Click Show all known updates. The Show All Known Updates page is
displayed.
3. Select a time period for searching for recently found updates. The contents of
the page will automatically change to show a list of updates matching the
selected time period.
4. Optional: Click Search this table to search within the table for particular
updates of interest.
5. Select an update.
6. You can perform all the update functions available from any table of updates.
You can display the update actions and choose any of these: download,
installation staging, installation, and so on. You can also use any of the table
level actions such as sort, search, filter, and so on.
7. Click Close when finished.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 363


Related tasks

Navigating tables
Related reference

lsupd command

Viewing properties, documentation, requirements, and other details for an


update:

You can obtain details about an update, such as general properties, installation
requirements, installable files, and documentation.

If an update has not been downloaded and you attempt to view the contents of an
associated documentation file, the download task will be run so that the files can
be read.

To view properties and documentation for an update, complete the following steps:
1. From any place where an update is displayed, click the update name. A page of
general information about the update is displayed, including: name, ID, size,
version, and so on.
2. Click the General tab to see general information about the update.
In this list, the term 'update' is used to refer to an update or update group.

Note: Certain listed updates, for example UpdateXpress System Pack updates
for a IBM BladeCenter blade server or chassis, are actually update collections
that contain one or more member updates that are combined into one
installable image. To view the member updates within the update collection,
right-click on the update collection and select “Update”. For more information,
see your product documentation.
Name The name of the update.
Description
A description of the update.
Acquired Date
The date that this update was acquired by update manager.
Build Date
The date that the update was built. An example is the date that the
source for the update was compiled.
Build Number
The build number of the update.
Category
The category of update.
Downloaded
Whether the update has been downloaded to the management server.
Filenames
The names of the files for the update.
Package Type
The package type of the update.
Platform
The hardware platform that the update applies to.

364 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Product
The name of the product that the update applies to.
Restart Type
Whether a restart is required when the update is installed or
uninstalled, and what type of restart is required.
These are the possible values:
Restart immediately after update is installed
The restart must be performed before other updates can be
installed or uninstalled.
Restart after all updates are installed
The restart can be performed at the end of the install or
uninstall task.
None There is no restart indicated for the system or resource.
Severity
The severity of the update is one of the following values:
v Critical
v High
v Normal
v Low
v Not Applicable
Software ID
A character string or value that identifies the software or firmware that
needs the update.
Superseded
Whether this update has been superseded by another.
Total Size
The total size of all the update's files.
Uninstallable
Whether the update can be uninstalled.
Update ID
A unique identifier for the update.
Update Type
Whether the update is an individual update or an update collection.
Vendor
The manufacturer of the update.
Version
The software or firmware version that the update applies to.
3. Click the Documentation tab. A page of documentation files is displayed. Some
updates might not have documentation files.
4. Click the Requirements tab. A page of requirements that must be met in order
for the update to be installed is displayed. The type of information depends on
which software component is being updated, such as applicable operating
systems and levels.
5. Close this page by clicking the X on the page tab.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 365


Related reference

lsupd command

Searching update documentation:

If there is a specific area of concern or detail that you are looking for, searching
update documentation can point you to the updates that you are most interested
in.

Only the latest documentation for an update in its supersede chain is displayed. If
you have a situation where update A supersedes update B, the documentation for
update A is displayed rather than the documentation for update B, since update A
is the most recent update in the supersede chain.

The Update Manager summary page contains a search field that searches the
documentation files of updates that are available for management. The search is
limited to updates that have been downloaded to the management server. For each
update, only those files that are human readable are available for searching.

To search update documentation, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Search section.
2. In the Search local updates field, type the terms you want to search for.
3. Click Search. Search results are displayed in a separate table, sorted by
closeness to the search terms. Search results are not case-sensitive.
4. Optional: You can do various tasks from the search results page, such as
installing an update, viewing the properties, or adding it to an update group.
5. If you do not find what you are looking for, perform a check for updates to
ensure that you have all the most recent updates.

You can use operators in your searches to obtain more accurate search results. Here
are examples of the supported search operators and their meanings:
Linux Matches anything that contains Linux.
Linux*
Matches anything that begins with Linux.
Linux server
Matches anything that contains either Linux or server or both.
Linux OR server
Same as Linux server.
+Linux +server
Matches anything that contains both Linux and server.
Linux AND server
Same as +Linux +server.
+Linux -Blade
Matches anything that contains Linux and does not contain Blade.
clock~ Matches anything like clock, such as block, click, clocks, and so on.
(Linux OR server) AND Blade
Matches anything that contains Blade and also contains Linux or server or
both.

366 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


"Issues and Recommendations"
Matches anything with the exact phrase 'Issues and Recommendations'.
Related tasks

Navigating tables
Related reference

lsupd command

Viewing required updates:

When preparing to install an update, it might be necessary to first install another


update on a given system. These updates are called required updates or requisite
updates.

You can view the updates required by an update by navigating the requires
relationship on the update menu. The requires relationship navigation will display
the updates required by the currently selected update. The updates are displayed
in a navigator table view.

This table view can be switched by the user to a topology map to display a
graphical layout instead of a table. In the topology map, the required relationships
between the updates are displayed.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view the required updates for a specific update, complete the following steps:
1. From any list of updates, select the update whose required updates you want
to display.
2. Click Actions > Related Resources > Needed Updates. A table of the needed
updates is displayed.
Related tasks

Navigating tables
Related reference

lsupd command

Viewing the contents of update collections:

An update collection is an update that contains other updates, such as a service


pack. They can be managed as a single unit, just like an individual update.

To determine if an update is a collection or an individual update, from any table


where a list of updates is displayed, view the Update Types field. A value of
'Collection' indicates that the update is an update collection. A value of 'Individual'
indicates that the update is not a collection, but an individual update.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view update collections, complete the following steps:


1. From any list of updates, select an update collection.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 367


2. Click Actions > Related Resources > Updates. A table of the member updates
is displayed.

Although you can view the member updates in an update collection, you are
advised not to install these individual members separately. Instead, install the
entire update collection.
Related reference

lsupd command

Viewing the supersede relationships for an update:

One update supersedes another if installation of the one update will make the
other no longer needed.

The concept of supersede can be explained by this example. UpdateA supersedes


UpdateB if UpdateA contains all the information in UpdateB, or installing
UpdateA creates a situation where UpdateB is not needed. UpdateA can be said to
supersede UpdateB or be a supersede of UpdateB. UpdateB can be said to be
superseded by UpdateA.

You can see the updates that are superseded by a given update by selecting
supersedes on the Related Resources submenu at the top of the update menu. It is
possible that an update does not supersede any other. It is also possible that an
update is not superseded by any other

This table view can be switched by the user to a topology map to display a
graphical layout instead of a table. In the topology map, the superseded
relationships between the updates are displayed.
Related reference

lsupd command

Viewing parent update collections:

For a given update, a parent update collection is an update collection that contains
this update, as well as possibly others. Not all updates will have a parent update
collection.

Parent update collections are updates themselves, and can be installed as an


update. These are similar in concept to service packs.

To view update collections, complete the following steps:


1. From any list of updates, select an update whose parent update collection you
want to view.
2. Click Actions > Related Resources > Update Collection. The update collection
that contains this update is displayed.

Although you can view the member updates in an update collection, you are
advised not to install these individual members separately. Install the entire update
collection.

368 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related reference

lsupd command

Managing update groups


You can group updates to form an update group, which can then be managed as if it
were an individual update. The use of update groups can save time and limit the
complexity of the update tasks.
Related tasks

Managing groups

Update groups:

Update groups can be static or dynamic. Both types can be used in compliance
policies.
Static update groups
Contain individual updates that were explicitly chosen. Once established,
the membership changes only when you manually add or delete updates.
Static update groups can be used as a baseline for future comparison or
update deployment.
Dynamic update groups
Automatically contains updates based on selected update types. The
membership of this group changes as update information changes.

It is important to note that the membership of an update group is not resolved at


the time that a task using the group is scheduled. The membership of the update
group is resolved at the time that the task runs.

If you add a system group or an update group to an existing system group or


update group, this new, nested group will not be considered when the parent
system or update group is used for validation of compliance policies.

Viewing update groups:

It is advisable to view the individual members of an update group so that you are
aware of the updates that are being used for compliance policies.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view an update group, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Updates section.
2. Click Show Update Groups. A table of all defined update groups is displayed.
This table shows all the update groups in the group named All Update Groups.
3. Click the name of the update group that you want to view. The members of the
group are displayed in a list.
Related tasks

Managing groups

Navigating tables

Creating update groups:

Chapter 7. Updating systems 369


Although there are predefined update groups, you might want to create and
manage update groups for your unique systems and their software.

To create an update group, complete the following steps:


1. From the Resource Navigator, click Create Group. The Group Editor wizard is
displayed.
2. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Name page is displayed.
3. Type a name and description for the new group and click Next. The Type and
Location page is displayed.
4. Select a Member type of Update.
5. In the Group type field, choose either a Static or Dynamic update group. The
Define page is displayed.
6. Select group members:
v If the group type is Static, select the individual updates and update collection
and click Add to move them to the Selected column.
v If the group type is Dynamic, select the types of updates and click Add to
move them to the Selected column. These values are like those on the Check
for Updates page.
7. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
8. Review the choices for the new group carefully.
v If your choices are correct, click Finish to create the update group.
v If you want to change your choices, click Back to go to the previous page, or
choose the Group Editor wizard page from the navigation area.
Related tasks

Managing groups

Installing updates on systems


Use the Install wizard to install updates on systems or groups of systems. If you
choose to install updates that have not been downloaded or staged for installation,
these tasks will be automatically performed as part of the installation task.

Note: The installation of updates on IBM i (formerly i5/OS) systems requires a


single sign-on credential that maps an IBM Systems Director Web interface user to
an IBM i user ID. For more information, see “Managing single sign-on credentials.”

Tip: Use the IBM Systems Director Pre-Install Utility to scan systems and identify
potential problems that could prevent IBM Systems Director from updating
successfully.

Tip: To protect your system in the event of an unforeseen complication, ensure


that you back up your data before performing any update tasks.

To install updates, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Updates section.
2. Click Show needed updates. The Show Needed Updates page is displayed.
3. Select a system or system group in the Selected systems field. Click Browse
to see a list of systems to choose from.
4. Click Show needed updates. A table of needed updates is displayed.
5. Select each update that you want to install. Whole update collections, not
individual member updates, will be installed.

370 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


6. Click Install. The Install wizard Welcome page is displayed.
7. Clear Show this welcome page next time if you do not want to see the
Welcome page next time.
8. Click Next The Systems page is displayed.
9. Select each system or system group that you want to install the updates and
click Add. All selected updates that are needed by or applicable to the
selected systems will be installed. If you select a system group, the updates
are installed on those systems that are a member of the group at the time that
the installation task runs.
10. If some of the updates are for AIX or IBM BladeCenter systems, and you had
not already specified the necessary AIX or IBM BladeCenter options on the
Settings page, it is displayed so that you can choose these options.
11. Click Next. The Options page is displayed.
12. Clear Automatically install missing required updates if you do not want
updates required for the installation of the selected updates to also be
installed. Clearing this box is not advised. Missing mandatory updates will
cause the installation to fail.
13. If there are updates that are required for the installation of the selected
updates, these updates are displayed in the Missing Required Updates table.
a. Select a system from the list of systems to see the update requirements for
each system.
b. You cannot change anything here, only view it. The data displayed here
can lead you to change your choice for Automatically install missing
required updates, however.
14. Optional: If you select updates that require a manual download, and this has
not already been done, you must manually download them. The Downloads
required page is displayed.
a. Click Details to perform the manual download.
b. Click Continue, the updates are now downloaded and ready when you
have completed the manual download.
c. Click Skip the updates which must be manually downloaded if you do
not want to download these updates, or the manual download process has
failed for one or more of them.
15. Click Next.
16. Optional: The Manual Installation Required page will be displayed if a
selected update must be manually installed by the user.
a. Click View under the Installation Instructions heading to see the manual
installation instructions.
b. Read the instructions and decide to install the updates now or later.
Updates that require manual installation will be removed from the list of
selected updates. If all the selected updates require manual installation, you
cannot continue; Next will be disabled.
17. Click Next. The Restarts page is displayed. All selected systems are displayed
in the table even if they do not require a restart. For each system, the highest
restart impact is listed. The systems are sorted in this table with those of
highest restart impact listed first.
18. Automatically restart as needed during installation is selected by default.
Clear this box if you do not accept the restart requirements. If you clear the
Automatically restart as needed during installation box and updates are

Chapter 7. Updating systems 371


installed that have pending restarts, then the installation task will complete
with errors and some update installs might not be attempted if a dependent
update requires an immediate restart.
19. Click Yes in the Restarts Required column for a system to view all updates to
be installed on the system and their individual restart requirements. This view
is specific to the selected system. It shows all the updates that will be installed
on that system and the restart value for each. You cannot change the
information on this page. If you do not accept the restart requirement, click
OK to return to the Install wizard, click Back, and then remove systems or
updates.
If you have selected system groups as the target for the update installation,
the list of individual systems in these groups is not determined until the task
runs. You are presented options only for those systems that were individually
selected. Group membership is not determined until the task runs.
These are the possible values:
Restart immediately after update is installed
The restart must be performed before other updates can be installed
or uninstalled.
Restart after all updates are installed
The restart can be performed at the end of the install or uninstall task.
None There is no restart indicated for the system or resource.
20. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
21. Review the information on this page.
v If it is correct, click Finish. A panel is displayed for you to specify
notification and schedule settings for the installation task.
v If some information is incorrect, click Back to go to previous pages and
correct the information, or click Cancel to cancel the entire process.

Note: Even if the installation of your update is successful, the version numbers
that are displayed for a particular updated IBM Systems Director component might
not match across version displays. For example, after successfully updating
Platform Agent 6.2 to 6.2.1, the Platform Agent version that is displayed in the file
set remains as 6.2. This does not impact functionality, though, and you can ignore
it.
Related tasks

Navigating tables

Managing single sign-on credentials


Related reference

Pre-Installation Utility

installupd command

installneeded command

Removing update files


When an update is no longer needed, you can remove its associated installable
files to save space.

If an update has not been downloaded, this task is not available. This task removes
the installable files for an update, but descriptive information about the update is

372 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


not removed. When this task completes, the update remains known to update
manager and is treated like any other update.

To remove the installable files from an update, complete these steps:


1. From any page where a list of updates is present, select the updates whose files
you want to delete.
2. Click Actions > Delete files.
3. Click Yes in the verification window to confirm the removal of the files.

To remove all information about an update, use the cleanupd command.


Related reference

cleanupd command

Uninstalling updates
It might be necessary to remove an update from a system or group of systems. Use
the Uninstall updates task to do this. Not all updates support the uninstall task.
For updates that cannot be uninstalled, it might be possible to roll them back to an
earlier version by installing an older version on top of the current one.

To uninstall updates, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the System Tasks group.
2. Click Show installed updates. The Show Installed Updates page is displayed.
3. Select a system or system group in the Selected systems field. Click Browse to
see a list of systems to choose from.
4. Click Show installed updates. A table of installed updates is displayed.
5. Select each update that you want to uninstall.
6. Click Uninstall updates. The Uninstall wizard Welcome page is displayed.
7. Clear Show this welcome page next time if you do not want to see the
Welcome page next time.
8. Click Next. The Updates page is displayed.
9. Select each update that you want to uninstall and click Add.
10. Click Next. The Systems page is displayed.
11. Select each system or system group from which you want to uninstall the
updates and click Add. All selected updates that are installed on these systems
will be uninstalled. If you select a system group, the updates are uninstalled
from those systems that are a member of the group at the time the
uninstallation task runs.
12. If some of the updates are for AIX systems, and you had not already specified
the necessary AIX options on the Settings page, it is displayed so that you can
choose these options.
13. Click Next. The Options page is displayed.
14. Clear Automatically uninstall dependent updates if you do not want to
uninstall the updates that depend upon the updates that are chosen to be
uninstalled. Clearing this box is not advised. Failing to uninstall dependent
updates will cause the uninstallation task to fail.
15. A table of the known update dependencies for each selected update is
displayed.
a. Select a system from the list of systems to see the update dependencies for
each system.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 373


b. You cannot change anything here, only view it. The data displayed here
can lead you to change your choice for Automatically uninstall
dependent updates, however.
16. Optional: The Manual Uninstall Required page might be displayed. It is
displayed only when an update selected for uninstallation must be manually
removed.
a. Click View under the Uninstallation Instructions heading to see the
manual instructions for each update to be uninstalled.
b. Read the instructions and decide to run them now or later.
17. Click Next. The Restarts page is displayed. All selected systems are displayed
in the table even if they do not require a restart. For each system, the highest
restart impact is listed. The systems are sorted in this table with those of
highest restart impact listed first.
18. Automatically restart as needed during installation is selected by default.
Clear this box if you do not accept the restart requirements. If you clear the
Automatically restart as needed during installation box and updates are
uninstalled that have pending restarts, then the uninstallation task will
complete with errors and some uninstalls might not be attempted if a
dependent update requires an immediate restart.
19. Click Yes in the Restarts Required column for a system to view all updates to
be uninstalled on the system and their individual restart requirements. This
view is specific to the selected system. It shows all the updates that will be
uninstalled on that system and the restart value for each. You cannot change
the information on this page. If you do not accept the restart requirement,
click OK to return to the Uninstall wizard, click Back, and then remove
systems or updates. If you have selected system groups as the target for the
uninstallation task, the list of individual systems in these groups is not
determined until the task runs. You are presented options only for those
systems that were individually selected. Group membership is not determined
until the task runs.
These are the possible values:
Restart immediately after update is installed
The restart must be performed before other updates can be installed
or uninstalled.
Restart after all updates are installed
The restart can be performed at the end of the install or uninstall task.
None There is no restart indicated for the system or resource.
20. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
21. Review the information on this page.
v If the information is correct, click Finish. A panel is displayed for you to
specify notification and schedule settings for the task being launched by
this wizard.
v If some information is incorrect, click Back to go to previous pages and
correct the information, or click Cancel to cancel the entire process.

If an update cannot be uninstalled, it might be possible to roll back the installed


update by installing an older version of the update. The older update can be
installed if the older update is applicable to the system.

374 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related tasks

Navigating tables
Related reference

uninstallupd command

Acquiring and installing updates with the installneeded


command
Use this alternate update method if you want to use the command line to specify
some options and then let update manager automatically obtain and install all
types of updates for IBM Systems Director.

You can use the installneeded command line tool to simply update IBM Systems
Director servers and agents, or you can add optional parameters to install other
update types. The tool performs the entire update process from beginning to end
with a single command. The basic flow consists of collecting inventory on the
target system, importing or acquiring updates, running compliance, installing
needed updates, then running inventory and compliance again.

This topic describes several high-level uses for the installneeded command. See the
installneeded command topic for more detailed information.
v To update IBM Systems Director Server 6.2.x from the FSP, issue the following
command:
smcli installneeded -v -F

This command will use the server on which it is run as the target. It will
automatically acquire IBM Systems Director Server updates from the FSP and
install them. The -v option specifies “verbose” and is useful for tracking
progress or seeing problems. The -F option specifies “force”, without which the
command will ask for confirmation before installing each update.
The following options and operands are also useful when updating IBM Systems
Director Server:
-I Installs updates that are already in the updates repository. For example:
smcli installneeded -v -I
import_path
Installs updates after you import them from the supplied path. For
example:
smcli installneeded -v c:\dir621updates
See the installneeded command topic for more detailed information about these
options and operands.
v To update Common Agent 6.x or Platform Agent 6.x with the latest update level
from the FSP, complete the following steps from an IBM Systems Director 6.2.x
server:
1. Issue the following command to determine the OID of the system:
smcli lssys -o

The output will resemble this example:

netvj165, 0xa98
netvj165.vrow.netfinity.com, 0xa39
2. Issue the following command to update the agent:

Chapter 7. Updating systems 375


smcli installneeded -v -n {system_oid | system_name} -F

For example:
smcli installneeded -v -n 0xa39 -F
smcli installneeded -v -n netvj165.vrow.netfinity.com -F
The following options and operands are also useful when updating Common
Agent or Platform Agent:
-I Installs updates that are already in the updates repository. Use the
following format for the command:
smcli installneeded -v -n {system_oid | system_name} -I
-i Specifies an IP address or host name to identify the system instead of
the system OID or system name. This could be useful if you are
using a script to update the system after using other CLI commands
to discover and request access to the system. If both the server MEP
and operating system MEP have the same IP address, you must use
another parameter along with the command to install the updates
without user intervention. Use the following format for the
command:
smcli installneeded -v -t system_type -i ip_address -F

For example:
smcli installneeded -v -t OperatingSystem -i 10.11.9.165 -F

Note: Use the lssys -T command to determine the valid system


types.

Note: You can use -i in combination with -I.


See the installneeded command topic for more detailed information about
these options and operands.
v To update Common Agent 6.x or Platform Agent 6.x with a specific update level,
complete the following steps from an IBM Systems Director 6.2.x server:
1. Download the desired updates from www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/.
2. Issue the following command to import and install the updates:
smcli installneeded -v -n {system_oid | system_name} -F import_path

For example:
smcli installneeded -v -n 0xa39 -F c:\dir612updates
v To install other types of updates, complete the following steps:
1. Issue the following command to determine the update type or types to
specify:
smcli installneeded --list
2. Issue either of the following commands to install the updates:
– smcli installneeded -v -n {system_oid | system_name} -F -u
update_type
– smcli installneeded -v -t system_type -i ip_address -F -u
update_type
For example:
– Install System x and IBM BladeCenter updates from the FSP to the system
with a system OID of 0xa39:
smcli installneeded -v -n 0xa39 -F -u systemxandbc

376 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


– Install System x and IBM BladeCenter updates that were already acquired
from the FSP or imported previously to the system with a system name of
netvj165.netfinity.com:
smcli installneeded -v -n netvj165.netfinity.com -F -u systemxandbc -I
– Install Linux updates to the system with an IP address of 10.11.9.165:
smcli installneeded -v -t OperatingSystem -i 10.11.9.165 -F -u linux

Note: The default value for -u is “Director”, which is implied if -u is not


specified. That is why the previous command to update IBM Systems
Director Server was accurate even though the -u option was not included.
The -u option corresponds to the update ProviderType and specifies the
types of updates to acquire if -c is specified or implied when no other option
is given. The check for updates task will only order updates using the
default criteria values that are supported by the target system or server if no
target system is provided.

To illustrate with an example, a user wants to update IBM Systems Director


Server on Linux and uses the following command to do so:
smcli installneeded -v -F

The user then discovers and accesses a Linux agent and plans to perform
Linux updates on the agent after the agent side setup is complete. There are
correct and incorrect commands to use for this action:
– Incorrect:
smcli installneeded -v -t OperatingSystem -i 10.11.9.165 -F -u linux -I

This command would find no updates to install. Even though the smcli
installneeded -v -F command already ran the check for updates task on
a Linux server, -u was not specified and therefore defaulted to “-u
Director”. Only IBM Systems Director updates were acquired from the
FSP, and no Linux updates were placed in the repository for installation.
– Correct:
smcli installneeded -v -t OperatingSystem -i 10.11.9.165 -F -u linux

This command would complete a check for updates task for Linux
updates from the FSP and install them.
See the installneeded command topic for more detailed information about
these options and operands.
Related tasks

Determining disk space requirements for applying updates


Related reference

Restarting the server

installneeded command

lssys command

Keeping systems in compliance


Use compliance policies to receive notification about systems that are missing
specific updates.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 377


The Update Manager summary page gives you a quick view of the number of
systems that are being monitored by compliance policies, and the number of
systems that are out of compliance. Review this information before viewing the
more detailed data that follows it.

Use the Update Manager summary page to view information about compliance
policies for your systems. All compliance policy tasks are initiated from the System
tasks group in the Update compliance section on this page.

Note: Compliance status does not change on the monitored systems until a check
for updates task is complete and compliance has completed. This status change can
take up to 10 minutes after the check for updates task completes.
1. To view or edit update compliance policies, click Change compliance policies
from the Update Manager summary page. A list of systems is displayed.
2. Select a system from the list to edit its compliance policy.

Compliance policies can be created on systems or system groups. When a policy is


created on a system group, all systems within the group inherit the compliance
policy. The group is displayed in the Inherited column when viewing the system
compliance policy.

Compliance policies
Use compliance policies to monitor your systems and inform you when systems
are missing specific updates.

The first section on the Update Manager summary page is the Update Compliance
section. This section provides a quick summary of the update health of your
systems and provides several system-related tasks.

Tips

If you see the term Inherited Compliance Policy, or an Inherited field in a table when
you are viewing this information, there is a compliance policy on the parent group
for the system. The policy can be removed from the system only by removing it
from the system parent group.

The behavior of a compliance policy for an update group differs slightly


depending on whether the update group is static or dynamic:
v When a static update group is examined, each update contained within the
group that is applicable to the system must be found to be installed; otherwise
the compliance policy indicates an 'out of compliance' situation. This situation is
verified by examining the appliesTo relationship on the update.
v When a dynamic update group is examined, the compliance policy indicates an
'out of compliance' situation only when updates that are needed by the systems
are not installed. This situation is verified by examining the needs relationship
on the update.
v If you add a system group or an update group to an existing system group or
update group, this new, nested group will not be considered when the parent
system or update group is used for validation of compliance policies.

If an update that is not applicable to a particular system is not installed, the


compliance policy does not indicate an 'out of compliance' situation.

378 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Adding updates to a compliance policy
Updates can be added to a compliance policy to keep the compliance policy
current.

To add an update to the compliance policy for a system, complete the following
steps:
1. From any panel that has a list of updates displayed, click Add to >
Compliance Policy.
2. Select the system or system group to be monitored for the update.
3. Click OK. The selected update is added to the compliance policy for the
system.
4. Click Save to save the compliance policy.

Changing compliance policies


Use the Change Compliance Policies page to change compliance policies.

The Change Compliance Policies task is used to configure compliance policies on


systems that are monitored for missing updates. Each compliance check is listed on
a separate line.

The target system or system group is checked against its associated compliance
policy automatically when the system or update inventory changes.

To modify compliance policies, complete the following steps:


1. From the Update Manager summary page, locate the Update Compliance
section.
2. From the System Tasks group, click Change compliance policies. The
Compliance Policy page is displayed.
3. Select a system or system group.
4. Optional: Click Browse to see a list of systems.
a. Click Add to add a system or system group.
b. Click Remove to remove a system or system group.
5. Click Show Compliance Policy. A table of updates and update groups
currently included in the compliance policy is displayed
6. Choose a task:
v Click Add to insert a new compliance check:
– Choose the updates or update groups to be included in the compliance
policy.
– If an update group is selected:
Click Ensure that all applicable updates are installed to indicate that the
compliance policy will be successful only if all applicable updates in the
group are found to be installed on the system.
Click Ensure that at least one applicable update is installed to indicate
that the compliance policy will be successful if one or more updates in the
group is found to be installed on the system.
– Click OK to add the updates or update groups to the compliance policy.
v Select and edit compliance checks that are for update groups. You cannot
edit compliance checks that are for individual updates.
v Select and remove compliance checks from the table.
7. Click Save to make permanent the changes to the compliance policy.

Chapter 7. Updating systems 379


Example

If you create a static update group where some of the updates supersede others,
the compliance policy verifies that the latest superseding update is installed. The
recommendation that comes from this type of compliance policy will be to install
the latest update in the supersede chain.

As an example, consider an update group with these attributes:


v It is a static update group.
v Group members are updates named UpdateA, UpdateB, and UpdateC.
v UpdateA supersedes UpdateB.
v UpdateB supersedes UpdateC.

When a compliance policy is created with this group, the compliance policy
verifies that the latest supersede update (UpdateA in this case) is installed, and if it
is not the recommended action is to install the latest update in the supersede chain
(UpdateA in this case). Even if both UpdateB and UpdateC are installed, the
compliance policy indicates 'out of compliance' unless UpdateA is installed. If
UpdateB and UpdateC are not found on the system, but UpdateA is present on the
system, the compliance policy indicates that the system is in compliance.

Identifying systems that are out of compliance


Identify systems that are out of compliance so that you can take recommended
corrective action.

This function does not give you information about all your systems, just those that
are being monitored by compliance policies.

The system-compliance status indicator represents the highest severity among all of
the compliance policy updates that are not installed on the system. There are four
compliance categories, represented by icons:

Indicates a missing update severity of critical or high

Indicates a missing update severity of medium or low

Indicates a missing update severity that is not known or not applicable

Indicates systems that are in compliance; they have no missing updates

To identify systems that are out of compliance, complete the following steps:
1. On the Update Manager summary page, find the Update Compliance section.
2. Examine the pie chart and icons to its right. The number of systems in each
compliance category is displayed.

380 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


3. If one or more system is in need of updates, click one of the systems links next
to the severity icons (which are next to the pie chart). This displays a table of
systems.
4. Optional: You can also click the View all issues link to the bottom right of the
pie chart to view all compliance issues for all systems that are in a policy and
are in need of updates.
5. Examine the Compliance column to find which systems are in need of updates.
The highest severity of all the missing updates is displayed.
6. Select one or more systems.
7. Click System Health > Compliance Issues The View All Issues page is
displayed.
Those systems that have the same compliance issues are grouped, and the total
number of systems is displayed.
8. Click a compliance issue to expand and filter the list of individual systems.
Otherwise, each system with each particular issue and recommendation is
listed.

Resolving compliance issues


When a compliance policy indicates that there are updates that are required on one
or more systems, examine the severity of the updates, and plan to install them
considering your system's availability, workload, and scheduling factors.

Use this procedure only if one or more of your systems is out of compliance, as
indicated by the Compliance column in the list of systems being monitored, or as
indicated by the pie chart on the Update Manager summary page.

The Compliance column visually indicates that a system is not in compliance. The
status severity is the highest severity of all the updates needed by the system.

To correct an out-of-compliance situation, complete the following steps:


1. Click the compliance status in the Compliance column to see the Issues and
Recommendations panel.
2. Read the recommended action. Make sure that you understand the proposed
actions.
3. Choose the issues that you want to resolve and then click either Install or
Uninstall, according to the recommendation. The appropriate wizard starts.
You can choose to resolve all issues at once instead of resolving them
individually.
Related tasks

Navigating tables

Chapter 7. Updating systems 381


382 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources
Using the IBM Systems Director remote access function, You can establish sessions
to a system, and transfer files, when you are logged into another system.

In order to use remote access, one or more systems must have been discovered and
unlocked, and have support for at least one remote access task.

Remote access facilities


Remote access has facilities for file transfer and access to systems in both
full-screen and command-line modes.

Remote access consists of these access mechanisms:


Distributed Command
Executes a command on one or more managed systems in parallel.
File Transfer
Transfers files from one system to another.
Hardware Command Line Interface
Invokes the hardware command line facility.
Launch Web Browser
Opens a browser window for the selected system.
Remote Command line
Establishes command-line access to a remote system.
Remote Control
Establishes full-screen access to a remote system using these access
methods:
BladeCenter and RSA Remote control
Launches the Web interface to remotely control IBM BladeCenter or
Remote Supervisor Adapter (RSA) systems
Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection
Launches this application for Windows systems
Virtual Network Computing
Launches Virtual Network Computing (VNC) for AIX and Linux
systems.
Remote Xen Console
Establishes command-line access to a remote Xen server.
Serial Console
Opens console windows to one or more POWER managed systems.

Distributed Command
The Distributed Command task launches the Distributed Shell.

Restriction: To use this task, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 383


The Distributed Shell gives you the ability to execute a command on one or more
managed systems in parallel. The command is executed on each remote target and
the output from each system is returned to the IBM Systems Director Server.

The Operating System resource type is supported by the Distributed Command


task.

File management
Use the File Management task to manage files and directories on a remote system.

From the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can use the File Management
task to manage files on a remote system. File management task operations include
rename, delete, upload, download, and the creation of new folders.

If you use the File Management task to perform an upload or download, you can
transfer individual files and directories between the following systems only:
v The browser system and the management server
v The browser system and a managed system

Transferring files directly between a management server and a managed system is


not supported. If you need to transfer a file from a management server to a
managed system (or the reverse, from a managed system to a management server),
you must transfer the file to a browser system first, and then transfer it from the
browser system to the managed system or the management server.

Hardware command line


The hardware command line function, also know as IBM Management Process
Command-Line Interface (MPCLI), is run from an established remote session.

MPCLI provides system management functions from an easy-to-use command-line


interface that connects to a service processor. Using MPCLI, you can access and set
a wide range of information about the health, configuration, communication, and
state of your system. These functions are immediately available after you make a
connection to a service processor.

Launch Web browser


Use the Launch Web browser facility to access a system that has a Web server.

The IP address that IBM Systems Director has for the system is used to launch the
Web browser with http protocol.

Remote Command Line


The Remote Command Line task establishes command-line access to a remote
system.

The Remote Command Line task opens a non-graphical Remote Command Line
window in the IBM Systems Director Web interface. You can communicate with a
remote system by issuing its operating system's commands at the command-line
prompt in the window.

Generally, you can have multiple remote command-line sessions active at the same
time.

384 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Restriction: You can have only one active remote command-line session through a
management server to a single Windows system at a time.

When you connect to a system that is running UNIX or Linux, Remote Command
Line uses the secure shell (ssh) protocol. If the ssh server on the system does not
respond, Remote Command Line attempts to connect using the Telnet protocol.

For a system running IBM i, Remote Command Line uses the Telnet protocol only.

The Remote Command Line function does not use SSH to connect to switches. For
switch resources, telnet is always used.

Remote control tasks


Remote control establishes a full-screen session to the remote system using a
remote control application.

If your system does not have one of the following applications installed, you must
first install and configure it on your browser system.
BladeCenter and RSA Remote Control
Launch the Web interface for remote control of IBM BladeCenter or Remote
Supervisor Adapter (RSA) systems.
Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection
Launch this application for Windows systems.
Virtual Network Computing
Launch Virtual Network Computing (VNC) for AIX and Linux systems.
Microsoft Windows Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool
Launch the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool.
VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine
Launch a VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine connection.
Setting up remote control
As mentioned above, if your system does not have one of the above
applications installed, you must first install and configure it on your
browser system. To install and configure a remote control application:
1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Set up remote control.
2. On the Setup Remote Control page, click the check box next to Use
Remote Desktop to control Window systems.
3. Complete required fields.
4. Click Apply and then OK.

IBM BladeCenter and RSA Remote Control


Use the IBM BladeCenter and Remote Supervisor Adapter (RSA) function to access
an IBM BladeCenter or RSA system.

Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection


Use the Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection to establish remote
control sessions to Windows systems from IBM Systems Director.

Before using Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection, make sure to


configure it on your Windows system. There is no need to install or configure
anything on IBM Systems Director.

Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources 385


Virtual Network Computing
Use the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) application to establish remote control
sessions to AIX and Linux systems from IBM Systems Director.

Virtual Network Computing must be installed first in order to use it with remote
control.

Follow these steps to install VNC:


1. Install the RealVNC viewer or another compatible VNC viewer on the Web
browser client.
2. Ensure that the Web browser client has network access to the agent.
3. Install and configure the VNC server on the agent, using a default port number
of 5091.

Important: When using VNC to establish remote control sessions on Linux


systems, you must also create the following script on your Web browser system
and associate it with the .vnc file type in the browser:
#!/bin/sh
VncViewer=vncviewer # (may need to be customized for your environment)
Conf=$1
Host=$( cat $Conf | grep ^Host= | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d ’\r’ )
Port=$[ $( cat $Conf | grep ^Port= | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d ’\r’ ) - 5900 ]
which $VncViewer 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && $VncViewer $Host:$Port &

Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool


The Microsoft Windows Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool can be
launched from IBM Systems Director using Remote control to display and provide
access to the video, keyboard, and mouse of Hyper-V virtual machines.

VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine connection


VMware ESX and VMware ESXi are platform-virtualization software that you can
launch from IBM Systems Director by using Remote control.

Remote Xen Console


The remote Xen console task manages a command-line interface to a remote Xen
server.

You can use the remote Xen console window to establish a fully active command
session with a remote Xen server or host. The remote Xen server or host must be
started and have access granted in order to establish communications. This session
is non-graphical, so a command line window opens when it is started.

Serial Console
The Serial Console task launches the serial console.

Restriction: To use this task, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX 6.1F or higher. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

The serial console gives you the ability to open console windows to one or more
POWER managed systems. Each window provides access to the system’s serial
console, accessed out-of-band.

The following resource types are supported by the Serial Console task:
v Server

386 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Virtual Server
v System

Running remote access functions


You can run the remote access functions from the Remote Access Summary page.

For the remote control functions, you do not choose which function to run. It is
chosen based on the target system.

Using the Distributed Shell


Use the Distributed Shell to execute a command on one or more managed systems
in parallel.

To use the Distributed Shell, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

When you use the Distributed Shell to execute a command on one or more
managed systems in parallel, the command is executed on each remote target and
the output from each target is returned to the IBM Systems Director Server.

To use the Distributed Shell, complete the following steps:


1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Distributed Command. The
Targets page is displayed.
2. Select one target for remote access. Use the Add and Remove buttons to move
items between the Available list and the Selected list.
3. Optional: Click Show to filter the targets, for example, to show only those
targets that support the Distributed Command task.
4. Click OK. The Distributed Shell page is displayed with a Selected Targets
pane that contains the list of targets selected.
5. Optional: To display a list of hidden options, click Show Additional Options.
The options include:
Shell The shell in which the remote command should be run. You can select
either ksh or csh.
Fanout
The maximum number of target systems to run command in parallel.
(1–16).
Timeout (sec)
The amount of time, in seconds, that can elapse before termination of
command execution. Zero can be used for unlimited timeout.
Output formatting
The format of output from the targets. You can select None, Group
output from each target together, or Compress identical output.
Send server locale information to targets
If you want to send server locale information to the targets, click the
check box next to this option.
Hide Additional Options
You can click Hide Additional Options to close the Show Additional
Options pane.
6. Optional: Click Save As to save the command so that it can be recalled later
using Browse Saved Commands ....

Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources 387


a. A Save command window is displayed with two fields: Name and
Description.
b. Required: Specify a name to save the specified command under in the
Name field. The command name is loaded in the Command field.
c. Optional: Specify a description of the command in the Description field.
7. Click Run. The command is executed on the selected targets.
8. Optional: If you click Browse saved commands ..., the Saved commands
window is displayed where you can select a previously saved command. The
commands are listed in the following format: Name – Description.
To execute a saved command:
a. Select a saved command from the Select saved command: pull-down menu.
b. Click Load . The command name is loaded in the Command field.
c. Click Run on the Distributed Shell page. The command is executed on the
selected targets.
In the Saved commands window, you can also select Delete, to delete a saved
command or Cancel, to close the Saved commands window.

After the command executes on the selected targets, the Command Output pane is
displayed in the Distributed Shell page to show the output of the command from
each target, as well as errors from those targets. Click Cancel to return to the
Distributed Shell page where you can run additional commands.

Remember:
v When specifying a name for the command, if another command is already saved
under the same name, an error message displays.
v The name you specify cannot contain spaces.
v The Name field is used to create a file of the same name.
v The created files will be stored in the /opt/ibm/sysmgt/dsm/saved_commands
directory.

Using the Distributed Shell to issue a command to several


targets
You can use the Distributed Shell to issue a command to several targets.

To use the Distributed Shell, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

Before doing this task, a set of Operating System targets must be discovered and
you must request access to those targets.
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Select the Operating System targets for which you want to run the command
by clicking on the box next to the target in the Select column.
3. Click Actions and select Distributed Command. The Distributed Shell page is
displayed.
4. Type the command name in the Command field. For example, date, for the
date command.
5. Click Run. The command is executed on the selected targets and the output is
displayed on the Command Output pane.

388 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Using the Distributed Shell to issue a command to a group
You can use the Distributed Shell to issue a command to a group.

To use the Distributed Shell you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

Before doing this task, a set of Operating System targets must be discovered and
you must have access to those targets.
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the group of type Operating Systems.
3. Right-click the group and select System Configuration > Remote Access >
Distributed Command. The Distributed Shell page is displayed.
4. Type the command name in the Command field. For example, date, for the
date command.
5. Click Run. The command is executed on all the members of the selected group
and the output is displayed on the Command Output pane.

Using the Distributed Shell to save a command for future


execution
You can use the Distributed Shell to save a command for future execution.

To use the Distributed Shell, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

Before doing this task, a set of Operating System targets must be discovered and
you must have access to those targets.
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to a target.
3. Right-click the target and select System Configuration > Remote Access >
Distributed Command. The Distributed Shell page is displayed.
4. Click Save As.
5. Type the Name and Description for the saved command.
6. Click Save.

Using the Distributed Shell to execute a previously saved


command
You can use the Distributed Shell to execute a previously saved command.

To use the Distributed Shell, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

Before doing this task, a set of Operating System targets must be discovered and
you must have access to those targets.
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to a target.
3. Right-click the target and select System Configuration > Remote Access >
Distributed Command. The Distributed Shell page is displayed.
4. Click Browsed Saved Commands .... The Saved Commands window is
displayed.

Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources 389


5. Select a command to execute.
6. Click Load. The Distributed Shell page is displayed with the command name
in the Command field.
7. Click Run to execute the command.

Managing files on a remote system


Use the File Management task to manage files on remote systems.

Important:
v When you use the File Management task to transfer (upload or download) files:
– You can use the task with only one system at a time. You cannot transfer files
to multiple systems or to a group.
– Files are transferred in chunks through a queue on the management server
and the receiving Common Agent. If the chunk is not processed by the queue
before the timeout limit is reached, the transfer will fail. Such failures can
occur when other tasks are running on the same Common Agent, or when the
queue is full. Give careful consideration to transferring large files using file
management.

To use the File Management task to manage files, complete the following steps:
1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click File Management. The Targets
page is displayed.
2. Select the targets for file management, using the Add and Remove buttons to
move a system from the left (Available) column to the right (Selected) column.

Note: The Choose Target window does not display locked systems.
3. Click OK. The File Management page is displayed.
4. Right-click on a file or directory and select a management operation: Rename,
Delete, New Folder, Upload File or Download File.
5. Optional: Alternatively, you can access the File Management page from the
Navigation pane by clicking System Configuration > Remote Access > File
Management.
6. Optional: Right-click on a file or directory and select Properties to view
properties not displayed in the default view of the File Management page, such
as Created, Type, and Attributes.
7. Optional: Click Actions > Columns to select additional properties to display on
the File Management page. Select the properties by using the Add and Remove
buttons to move a property from the left (Available) column to the right
(Selected) column.

Using the hardware command line


Use the hardware command line, also known as IBM Management Process
Command Line Interface (MPCLI), for a command-line session with remote
systems that have hardware that is compatible withe MPCLI.

When using the hardware command line feature, you might see panels displaying
various actions performed by IBM Systems Director in order to accomplish this
task. These panels require no action from you, and can be ignored.

Hardware command line communicates with Remote Supervisor Adapter (RSA),


RSA II, Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), IBM BladeCenter Management

390 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Module, or IBM BladeCenter Advanced Management Module. To use the hardware
command line, complete the following steps:
1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Launch Command Line
Interface. The Targets page is displayed.
2. Select one target for remote access. Use the Add and Remove buttons to move
items between the Available list and the Selected list.
3. Optional: Click Show to filter the targets, for example, to show only those
targets that support hardware command line.
4. Click OK. A window with a hardware command line is displayed and enabled
for input.

Note: If the window is disabled for input after you click OK, you must ensure
that the server is in the browsers trusted zone. You can perform the following
steps for Internet Explorer:
a. Launch Internet Explorer.
b. Select Tools > Internet Options > Security.
c. Select Trusted sites.
d. Click Sites. The Trusted sites window opens.
e. In the Add this website to the zone: field, type https://<server ip address>
for example, https://10.10.6.120. Click Add.
f. Click Close on the Trusted sites window and then click OK to close out the
Internet Options window.
Perform these steps for Firefox:
a. Launch Firefox.
b. Select Tools > Options > Security.
c. Select Exceptions. The Allowed Sites - Add-ons Installation window opens.
d. In the Address of web site field, type https://<server ip address> for
example, https://10.10.6.120. Click Allow.
e. Click Close on the Allowed Sites - Add-ons Installation window and then
click OK to close out the Options window.
5. Communicate with the system by issuing commands.
6. Optional: You can select text within the hardware command line window and
click Edit > Copy to copy the selected text to the clipboard. You can also
import clipboard text into a hardware command line window by clicking Edit
> Paste.
7. When you are finished, click File > Close to terminate the session.

Establishing command-line access to a remote system


Use Remote Command Line to run commands on a remote system.

To establish a remote command-line session, complete the following steps:


1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Remote Command Line. The
Targets page is displayed.
2. Select a target for remote access, using the Add and Remove buttons to move a
system from the Available column to the Selected column. You can select only
one target.
3. Optional: Click Show to filter the targets, for example, to show only those
targets that support remote command line.

Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources 391


4. Click OK. A Login dialog displays in front of the Remote Command Line
window.
5. Type the User name and Password for the remote system you are accessing.
6. Click OK. The Remote Command Line window is enabled for input.

Note: If the window is disabled for input after you click OK, you must ensure
that the server is in the browsers trusted zone. You can perform the following
steps for Internet Explorer:
a. Launch Internet Explorer.
b. Select Tools > Internet Options > Security.
c. Select Trusted sites.
d. Click Sites. The Trusted sites window opens.
e. In the Add this website to the zone: field, type https://<server ip address>
for example, https://10.10.6.120. Click Add.
f. Click Close on the Trusted sites window and then click OK to close out the
Internet Options window.
Perform these steps for Firefox:
a. Launch Firefox.
b. Select Tools > Options > Security.
c. Select Exceptions. The Allowed Sites - Add-ons Installation window opens.
d. In the Address of web site field, type https://<server ip address> for
example, https://10.10.6.120. Click Allow.
e. Click Close on the Allowed Sites - Add-ons Installation window and then
click OK to close out the Options window.
7. Optional: Alternatively, you can establish command-line access to a remote
system by using Navigate Resources to navigate to the system.
a. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
b. Navigate to the system on which you want to establish command-line
access.
c. Right-click the system and select System Configuration > Remote Access >
Remote Command Line
d. Follow steps 5 and 6 above.
8. After the Remote Command Line is enabled for input, you can communicate
with the remote system by issuing its operating system's commands.
9. When you are finished, close the Remote Command Line tab to terminate
command-line access.

Launching a Web browser


Use the Launch Web browser task to access the default Web page for a system that
hosts a Web server.

When using this feature, you might see panels displaying various actions
performed by IBM Systems Director in order to accomplish this task. These panels
require no action from you and can be ignored.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with the Available
table, see “Navigating tables.”

392 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To launch a Web browser for a system that hosts a Web server, complete the
following steps:
1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Launch Web Browser. The
Targets page is displayed.
2. Select a target using the Add and Remove buttons to move a system from the
Available column to the Selected column. You can select only one target.
3. Optional: Click Show to filter the targets, for example, to show only those
targets that support launching a Web browser.
4. Click OK. Using the IP address for the chosen system, a Web browser is
invoked.
5. View and communicate with this Web page.
6. When you are finished, close the Web browser session.

Configuring Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection


You must configure Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection on your
Windows system in order to use it with IBM Systems Director.

If you are using a web browser on a Linux system to connect to a Windows agent,
you will need to configure and use the tsclient application.

To configure Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection on your Windows


system, go to the Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/
mobility/getstarted/remoteintro.mspx and follow the instructions.

Note: The Windows panel interfaces and text vary slightly depending on the
version of Windows that you are running.

You can ignore the section Connect your remote computer to the host computer;
this action is performed automatically by IBM Systems Director.

Establishing Remote Desktop Connection


Use Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection to communicate with
Windows systems.

If you are using a Linux browser, you must install and configure the tsclient
application.

To establish a Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection communications


session, complete the following steps:
1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Remote Control. The Targets
page is displayed.
2. Select the target for access, using the Add and Remove buttons to move a
system from the Available column to the Selected column.
3. Click OK. A window opens displaying a file; the file name is an IP address and
the file type is rdp.
4. Click Open. A Remote Desktop session is started.
5. Perform your work on this remote desktop.
6. When you are finished, close the page by clicking the X at the top.

Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources 393


Establishing Virtual Network Computing communications
Use Virtual Network Computing (VNC) to communicate with systems with a
full-screen session.

The Web browser-client machine must install RealVNC viewer or a compatible


VNC viewer. The agent must be configured to run vncserver on the default port of
5901.

To establish a VNC session, complete the following steps:


1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Remote Control. The Targets
page is displayed.
2. Select the target for VNC access, using the Add and Remove buttons to move a
system from the left (Available) column to the right (Selected) column.
3. Click OK. A window opens displaying a file; the file name is an IP address and
the file type is vnc.
4. Click Open. A VNC session is started.
5. Communicate with the target system by logging in and working as usual.
6. When you are finished, terminate the VNC communication by clicking the X at
the top of the window.

Important: When using VNC to establish remote control sessions on Linux


systems, you must also create the following script on your Web browser system
and associate it with the .vnc file type in the browser:
#!/bin/sh
VncViewer=vncviewer # (may need to be customized for your environment)
Conf=$1
Host=$( cat $Conf | grep ^Host= | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d ’\r’ )
Port=$[ $( cat $Conf | grep ^Port= | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d ’\r’ ) - 5900 ]
which $VncViewer 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && $VncViewer $Host:$Port &

Establishing IBM BladeCenter or RSA communication


Use IBM BladeCenter or Remote Supervisor Adapter (RSA) to communicate with
IBM BladeCenter or RSA systems with a full-screen session.

To establish an IBM BladeCenter or RSA communications session, complete the


following steps:
1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Remote Control. The Targets
page is displayed.
2. Select an IBM BladeCenter or RSA target, using the Add and Remove buttons
to move a system from the Available column to the Selected column.
3. Click OK. The IBM BladeCenter or RSA system is displayed.
4. From the IBM BladeCenter Management Module, click Blade Tasks > Remote
Control in the left navigation area.
5. Communicate with the target system by logging in and working as usual.
6. When you are finished, close the browser window.

Launching the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool


Use Remote control to launch the Microsoft Windows Hyper-V Virtual Machine
Connection Tool.

To launch the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool, complete the following
steps:

394 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Remote Control. The Targets
page is displayed.
2. 2. Select the virtual server target for access, using the Add and Remove buttons
to move a virtual server from the Available column to the Selected column.
3. 3. Click OK. The Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool is launched.

Launching a VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine


connection
Use Remote control to launch a VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine
connection

To launch a VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine connection, complete


the following steps:
1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Remote Control. The Targets
page is displayed.
2. 2. Select the virtual server target for access, using the Add and Remove buttons
to move a virtual server from the Available column to the Selected column.
3. 3. Click OK. A VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine connection is
launched.

Establishing a remote Xen console session


Use remote Xen console to run commands on a remote Xen server.

When using this feature, you might see panels displaying various actions
performed by IBM Systems Director in order to accomplish this task. These panels
require no action from you and can be ignored.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with the Available
table, see “Navigating tables.”

To establish a remote Xen console session, complete the following steps:


1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Remote Xen Console. The
Targets page is displayed.
2. Select a target using the Add and Remove buttons to move a system from the
Available column to the Selected column. You can select only one target.
3. Optional: Click Show to filter the targets, for example, to show only those
targets that support remote Xen console.
4. Click OK. A window with a remote Xen console is displayed and enabled for
input.
5. Communicate with the remote Xen console.
6. Optional: You can select text within the remote command-line window and
click Edit > Copy to copy the selected text to the clipboard. You can also
import clipboard text into a remote command line window by clicking Edit >
Paste.
7. When you are finished, click File > Close to terminate the session.

Using the serial console


Use the serial console to open console windows to one or more POWER managed
systems.

Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources 395


Note: This task requires the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program. This
program is installed automatically the first time you use a task that requires it. For
information about the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program, see
“Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program.”

To use the serial console, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX 6.1F or higher. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

When you use the serial console to open console windows to one or more POWER
managed systems, each window provides access to the system’s serial console,
accessed out-of-band.

To use the serial console, complete the following steps:


1. From the Remote Access Summary page, click Serial Console. The Targets page
is displayed.
2. Select one target for remote access. Use the Add and Remove buttons to move
items between the Available list and the Selected list.
3. Optional: Click Show to filter the targets, for example, to show only those
targets that support hardware command line.
4. Click OK. A separate window is displayed for each selected target. The title of
each console window will be the display name of the selected target.

Note: The defaults cannot be changed when displaying the serial console using
the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

Displaying a serial console to one server target


You can display a serial console to one server target from the IBM Systems
Director Navigate Resources page.

Note: This task requires the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program. This
program is installed automatically the first time you use a task that requires it. For
information about the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program, see
“Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program.”

To use the serial console, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX 6.1F or higher. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

Before doing this task, you must have access to the target's managing hardware
control point.
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the target for which you want to display a serial console.
3. Right-click the target and select System Configuration > Remote Access >
Serial Console. A separate window is displayed for the selected target.
4. Login to the console with the target's userid and password.

Displaying a serial console to several server targets in a group


You can display a serial console to several targets in a group from the IBM Systems
Director Navigate Resources page.

Note: This task requires the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program. This
program is installed automatically the first time you use a task that requires it. For
information about the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program, see
“Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program.”

396 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To use the serial console, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX 6.1F or higher. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

Before doing this task, you must have access to the target's managing hardware
control point.
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the group containing System type objects for which you want to
display a serial console.
3. Right-click the group and select System Configuration > Remote Access >
Serial Console. A separate window is displayed for the selected group.
4. Optional: You can also select multiple individual targets from Navigate
Resources. After you specify your targets, select System Configuration >
Remote Access > Serial Console from the Actions pull-down menu.
5. Login to each target using target's userid and password.

Closing the serial console


There are three ways to close the serial console.

Note: This task requires the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program. This
program is installed automatically the first time you use a task that requires it. For
information about the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program, see
“Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program.”

To use the serial console, you must be logged into IBM Systems Director Server
running on AIX 6.1F or higher. Otherwise, you will get an error message.

Close the serial console by using one of three methods:


v File > Close
v X from the console title bar
v Ctrl-x

Chapter 8. Remotely accessing systems and resources 397


398 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 9. Managing agents
You can use IBM Systems Director to deploy and manage agents (including
Common Agent and Platform Agent).

Note: Throughout the IBM Systems Director documentation, the term Common
Agent (with both words capitalized) refers to the IBM Systems Director Common
Agent, which includes subagents that provide specific management capabilities for
IBM Systems Director. IBM Systems Director can also discover and perform limited
management on other common agents that use the common agent services (CAS)
architecture. When referring to these common agents generically, lowercase text is
used.

Common agent services


IBM Systems Director uses the common agent services (CAS) architecture, which
provides a shared infrastructure for managing systems. This infrastructure, which
includes resource manager, agent manager, and common agent elements, is also
used by Tivoli Provisioning Manager products.

The goal of common agent services is to reduce infrastructure cost, complexity, and
redundancy by providing a common agent that can be used by multiple
management products instead of multiple separate agents that each provide
essentially the same functionality.

To achieve this goal, one or more resource managers (such as IBM Systems Director
Server) use an agent manager to communicate with the common agents that are
installed on managed resources. This architecture is illustrated in Figure 25.

IBM Systems
Director Server

Resource manager

Embedded agent Common agents


manager

Figure 25. The elements of common agent services in the default configuration for IBM Systems Director

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 399


Related information

Tivoli Provisioning Manager documentation

Resource manager
Installed on the management server, the resource manager is the management
application that uses the agent manager for security and credential management.
IBM Systems Director Server is the resource manager for IBM Systems Director.

Multiple resource managers can use the same agent manager and manage the same
common agents.
v Each common agent can use exactly one agent manager.
v Each resource manager can use exactly one agent manager.
v Each resource manager can manage many common agents.

Agent manager
The agent manager provides authentication and authorization services for installed
common agents and resource managers. It also maintains a registry of
configuration information about Common Agent managed systems.

Note: Except for security and credential management, systems management


communications between IBM Systems Director Server and common agents do not
go through the agent manager.

IBM Systems Director uses only one active agent manager at a time to
communicate with common agents. If no agent manager is active, IBM Systems
Director is not able to manage common agents.
v Each common agent can use exactly one agent manager.
v Each agent manager can be used by many resource managers.
v Each agent manager can be used to manage many common agents.

As illustrated in Figure 25 on page 399, IBM Systems Director Server includes an


embedded agent manager. However, IBM Systems Director Server can use an
external agent manager instead of the embedded one. Using an external agent
manager allows multiple instances of IBM Systems Director Server to manage the
same common agents. Installing IBM Systems Director Server and agent manager
on separate servers can also improve performance.

Notes:
v The agent manager that is embedded with IBM Systems Director Server can be
used by any number of instances of IBM Systems Director Server, but it is not
configured for use with other management application products.
v If you will use the embedded agent manager, you need to supply credentials
when you configure it that are used if you change agent managers. These
credentials depend on your operating system:
– On AIX or Linux, you can specify any credentials. You do not need to use the
root user ID or even an operating system user ID.
– On Windows, use the same administrator credentials that you used to install
IBM Systems Director.

The agent manager has the following parts:

400 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


agent manager service
The agent manager utilizes http servlets or Web services to manage agents
for IBM Systems Director and other products. The agent manager service
provides authentication and authorization using X.509 digital certificates
and the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. It also processes queries
against its registry of configuration information about common agents and
resource managers. Resource managers and common agents must each
register with the agent manager before they can use its services to
communicate with each other.
The agent manager service provides the core agent manager functionality
with the following services:
Service catalog
Provides information about the location of the agent manager
service.
Credential manager
Enables the agent manager to act as a certificate authority and
issue security credentials and revocation lists to managed elements.
Agent registry
Retrieves information about the common agent resources.
Querying service
Enables the resource manager to query the agent registry for the
agent and resource manager information.
agent manager registry
The agent manager registry stores the following information in a database:
v The identity, digital certificates, and communication information for each
resource manager
v The identity, digital certificate, and status for each common agent
v Basic configuration information about each common agent including
information about the type and version of the hardware and operating
system
v The last error or, optionally, a configurable number of errors, reported by
each common agent
v Communication parameters for the common agent, including IP address,
the port or ports for which the common agent is configured, and the
supported protocol

Common agent
Installed on managed systems, the common agent reports information about the
managed system to the resource manager and performs tasks on the managed
system as directed by the resource manager.

Note: Throughout the IBM Systems Director documentation, the term Common
Agent (with both words capitalized) refers to the IBM Systems Director Common
Agent, which includes subagents that provide specific management capabilities for
IBM Systems Director. IBM Systems Director can also discover and perform limited
management on other common agents that use the common agent services (CAS)
architecture. When referring to these common agents generically, lowercase text is
used.
v Each common agent can use exactly one agent manager.
v Each common agent can be managed by one or more instances of IBM Systems
Director Server.

Chapter 9. Managing agents 401


Note: All instances of IBM Systems Director Server must use the same agent
manager, and the common agent must be registered with that agent manager.

When you discover a system that has a common agent on it, the IBM Systems
Director Web interface will list the system with a protocol of 'CAS'. The system
will initially have no access, but you can register the agent with the agent manager
using one of the following two methods, depending on the mode you used to
install common agent services:
Managed mode common agent services
Common agent services registers the common agent with the agent
manager during installation.
Unmanaged mode common agent services
Requesting and gaining access to the system registers the common agent
with the default agent manager that is configured with IBM Systems
Director Server.

Logging Platform Agent


Use the PALog.INI configuration file to configure logging for Platform Agent. This
topic describes the property values and options to use with that file.

The PALog.INI file is located at the following paths:


v On Linux: PA_INSTALL_DIR/platform/data/PALog.INI
v On Windows: PA_INSTALL_DIR\cimom\data\PALog.INI

where PA_INSTALL_DIR is the Platform Agent installation path.

Example ITA properties file


# ITA Properties file written Sat Sep 04 19:43:00 2010

[PlatformAgent.Logging]
codeset_dir =
config_type = cclog
logging_type = ita_logdefault
nlspath =
start_logdaemon = none
use_logdaemon = false

[PlatformAgent.Logging.cclog]
PlatformAgent.organization = IBM
PlatformAgent.logger.className = ccg_pdlogger
PlatformAgent.logger.listenerNames = PlatformAgent.loggerfl PlatformAgent.ffdc
PlatformAgent.loggerfl.className = ccg_levelfilter
PlatformAgent.loggerfl.level = ALL
PlatformAgent.loggerfl.listenerNames = PlatformAgent.loggerhd
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.className = ccg_filehandler
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.fileName = agent.log
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.formatterName = PlatformAgent.fmt
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.maxFileBytes = 4096000
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.maxFiles = 3
PlatformAgent.fmt.className = ccg_basicformatter
PlatformAgent.ffdc.className = ccg_ffdc_filecopy_handler
PlatformAgent.ffdc.baseDir = PlatformAgent-FFDC
PlatformAgent.ffdc.filesToCopy = agent.log
PlatformAgent.ffdc.triggerFilter = PlatformAgent.lf
PlatformAgent.lf.className = ccg_levelfilter
PlatformAgent.lf.level = ERROR
PlatformAgent.tracer.className = ccg_pdlogger
PlatformAgent.tracer.listenerNames = PlatformAgent.trfl

402 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


PlatformAgent.trfl.className = ccg_levelfilter
PlatformAgent.trfl.level = OFF
PlatformAgent.trfl.listenerNames = PlatformAgent.trhd
PlatformAgent.trhd.className = ccg_filehandler
PlatformAgent.trhd.fileName = agent.trace
PlatformAgent.trhd.maxFileBytes = 4096000
PlatformAgent.trhd.maxFiles = 3
PlatformAgent.trhd.formatterName = PlatformAgent.trfmt
PlatformAgent.trfmt.className = ccg_basicformatter
PlatformAgent.fmt.className
Sets the format in which messages are logged. The following values are
accepted:
ccg_basicformatter
The text format in which the messages are logged.
ccg_xmlformatter
The XML format in which the messages are logged.
PlatformAgent.logger.className
Indicates the type of logging handle to use for the logger. The following
values are accepted:
ccg_basiclogger
A basic logger class, with support for localized and non-localized
messages. Loggers of this class do not automatically add any data
to the event except for the timestamp. ccg_basiclogger does not
show the LEVEL information. The following example shows what
the output might look like:
2010-09-04 20:04:43.671+05:30 PlatformAgent.Test | This is a test
message
ccg_pdlogger
An extended logger class with extra information for diagnosing
application problems. Loggers of this class automatically add the
names of the product, component, server, and organization to the
event, along with the timestamp. The following example shows
what the output might look like:
2010-09-24 08:14:39.663-04:00 18446744073559305104 7093 IBM
nettk125.trow.netfinity.com PlatformAgent | Start Logger
PlatformAgent.

Note: If the className value is set to NULL, a warning message does not
appear on the IBM Systems Director Web interface. It instead appears on
the agent console. A default logger with the name
PlatformAgent_default_message.log is created for logging the warning
message information.
PlatformAgent.logger.listenerNames
Specifies a list of names that procures events from the specified logger,
filter, or handler. Ensure that the names are the names of objects that are
defined in the same properties file. Separate the names in the list with
spaces. By default, Platform Agent supports two listeners: logger and
FFDC. To disable the FFDC, remove the PlatformAgent.ffdc entry.
PlatformAgent.loggerfl.className
Specifies the class name for the logging level filter. This property is not
configurable; do not change it.

Chapter 9. Managing agents 403


PlatformAgent.loggerfl.level
Specifies the logging filters with log level values. The following values are
accepted:
ALL Enables all log levels.
FATAL
Instructs the filter to block all events that are at a level lower than
fatal.
ERROR
Instructs the filter to block all events that are at a level lower than
error.
WARNING
Instructs the filter to block all events that are at a level lower than
warning.
INFO Instructs the filter to block all events that are at a level lower than
info.
DEBUG_MIN
(Default log and trace value.) Sets the debugging log levels to the
minimum value and includes extra debugging information such as
method name, function name, and line numbers.
DEBUG_MID
Sets the debugging log levels to the median value and includes
extra debugging information such as method name, function name,
and line numbers.
DEBUG_MAX
Sets the debugging log levels to the maximum value and includes
extra debugging information such as method name, function name,
and line numbers.
OFF Disables logging and creates a log file that contains only a message
stating that the logger initialized. No other messages are logged.
When no log level is specified, a warning message appears. A default
logger with the name PlatformAgent_default_message.log is created for
logging the warning message information.
A default tracer with the name PlatformAgent_default_trace.log is created
for logging the trace information.
PlatformAgent.loggerfl.listenerNames
Assigns the logger handler that manages the logging properties that are
related to the log file. This property is not configurable; do not change it.
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.appending
Indicates whether to append or overwrite existing file handler output files.
The following values are accepted:
TRUE (Default value.) Causes existing files to open in append mode.
FALSE
Causes existing files to be overwritten.
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.className
Indicates the type of handler to use for the logger. The following values are
accepted:

404 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


ccg_filehandler
Logs the messages to a file.
ccg_consolehandler
Logs the messages to the IBM Systems Director Web interface. This
option is not supported.
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.fileName
Indicates the full path of the log file. If this property is set to blank, no log
file is created, a warning message appears, and no logging takes place.

Note: If a Windows path name is specified in a properties file, you must


double the back-slashes like in the following example:
fooHandler.baseDir: C:\\temp\\myApp\\
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.formatterName
Specifies the handle to the Platform Agent formatter, which takes care of
assigning a particular format for the log file. This property is not
configurable; do not change it.
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.maxFileBytes
Indicates the maximum file handler output file size (in bytes). When that
size is reached, the log file is closed and renamed, and an empty new log
file is opened. This property has no effect unless the set value of the
maxFiles property is greater than one.

Note: For the correct behavior, set this value higher than 10 KB. If it is set
to less than 10 KB, the maxFileBytes size of the rollover files cannot be
interpreted if the log messages are high.

Example: In the following example, the first rollover file is of size


agent.log and the next rollover files is of size maxFileBytes:
Size of the rollover files = if ( sizeofagent.log > maxfileBytes )
PlatformAgent.loggerhd.maxFiles
Indicates the maximum number of file handler output files that are created
before the oldest one is recycled. If this property is set to 1 or 0, the current
log file never closes and might grow without limit. A warning message
appears. The default value is 3.
PlatformAgent.organization
Displays the organization name as IBM in the log file.
Trace properties
The following trace properties are like their companion log properties.

Note: The default trace level is OFF.


v PlatformAgent.tracer.className
v PlatformAgent.tracer.listenerNames
v PlatformAgent.trfl.className
v PlatformAgent.trfl.level
v PlatformAgent.trfl.listenerNames
v PlatformAgent.trfmt.className
v PlatformAgent.trhd.className
v PlatformAgent.trhd.fileName
v PlatformAgent.trhd.formatterName
v PlatformAgent.trhd.maxFileBytes

Chapter 9. Managing agents 405


v PlatformAgent.trhd.maxFiles
FFDC properties
PlatformAgent.ffdc.className
When set to ccg_ffdc_filecopy_handler, copies specified files to an
output directory whenever triggered by an event. This action
allows the creation of backup copies of files, the contents of which
might have been otherwise overwritten before examined.
PlatformAgent.ffdc.baseDir
Required value that designates the base directory into which all
FFDC output is placed. To conform to the Tivoli Serviceability
Imperative, this base directory must adhere to the following
format:
[install-Dir]/[log]/PlatformAgent-FFDC/

Whenever FFDC actions occur, daily subdirectories with the


following format are created under the base directory:
[baseDir]/[YYYY.MM.DD]/

where YYYY.MM.DD is the numeric year, month, and day from the
timestamp of the event that triggered the FFDC action.

By default, no base directory is specified, and no FFDC actions are


performed by an FFDC handler until the property is specified.
Instead, a warning is issued until the property is set.

Note: If a Windows path name is specified in a properties file, you


must double the back-slashes like in the following example:
fooHandler.baseDir: C:\\temp\\myApp\\
PlatformAgent.ffdc.filesToCopy
Specifies the files to copy. To copy multiple files on Windows,
enclose each file name in quotations and separate each one by a
space.
If you specify to log the ERROR level, FFDC is triggered and files
are copied into the directory that is specified by the
PlatformAgent.ffdc.baseDir property.
Every time FFDC is triggered, message files are appended.
PlatformAgent.ffdc.triggerFilter
Required value that designates the name of a CCLOG or CFFDC
filter to control which events trigger an FFDC action.
By default, no trigger filter is specified, and no FFDC actions are
performed by an FFDC handler until the property is specified.
Instead, a warning is issued until the property is set.
PlatformAgent.ffdc.triggerRepeatTime
Sets the minimum amount of time, in milliseconds, that it will take
the handler to respond to more triggering events after a triggering
event. Use this property to limit how rapidly a given FFDC action
is repeated. For example, it might not make sense for a given
application to take an AutoTrace snapshot less than 10 seconds
after the previous snapshot.
PlatformAgent.ffdc.maxDiskSpace

406 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Sets the maximum disk space, in bytes, that is allotted to the FFDC
data. When the total space used by the FFDC data exceeds the
specified limit, a warning is issued and, depending on the quota
policy, actions are taken. Those actions might include the automatic
deletion of older files or the suspension of new FFDC actions until
more space is made available by the manual removal of files. By
default, the maximum disk space is 10 megabytes (10*1024*1024).
PlatformAgent.ffdc.quotaPolicy
Designates the policy that specifies what to do when the FFDC
directory exceeds the disk space limit. The following values are
allowed:
QUOTA_AUTODELETE
(Default value.) Automatically deletes FFDC files, in a
decreasing order of age, until the directory is below the
disk space limit.
QUOTA_IGNORE
Issues warnings but do not enforce the FFDC disk space
quota.
QUOTA_SUSPEND
Halts further FFDC actions until the FFDC directory is
manually cleaned up to below the disk space limit.
PlatformAgent.ffdc.firstWarning
A percentage of maximum disk space usage for the first warning.
A first warning is issued if the disk space usages exceeds this
value. Set this value to a floating-point value between 0.0 and 1.0.
The default first warning threshold is 0.75.
PlatformAgent.ffdc.secondWarning
Sets a maximum percentage of disk space usage for the second
warning. A second warning is issued if the disk space usages
exceeds this value. Set this value to a floating-point value between
0.0 and 1.0. The default second-warning threshold is 0.90.
PlatformAgent.lf.className
Sets the trigger filter for the FFDChandler ccg_level_filter, which
specifies that the FFDC trigger occurs, and then monitors the log
levels in the log file.
PlatformAgent.lf.level
Designates the FFDC trigger level value of the log levels in the
logging filters. The following values are accepted:
FATAL
Triggers the FFDC when a fatal error message is logged in
the log file.
ERROR
Triggers the FFDC when an error error message is logged
in the log file.
When no log level is specified, a warning message appears. A
default logger with the name PlatformAgent_default_message.log
is created for logging the warning message information.

Chapter 9. Managing agents 407


A default tracer with the name PlatformAgent_default_trace.log is
created for logging the trace information.

PALog.INI and PALog.INI.bkp files

The PALog.INI.bkp file is created as a backup in case a process crashes while


updating the PALog.INI file.

When you modify any configuration, use PALog.INI.bkp to ensure that the
property ITA logging initialization File I/O takes place properly.

If both of these files are deleted, ITA fails to initialize the logger and throws an
error message. The location of the error file is ./tmp/italog_error.log on Linux
and %TEMP%/italog_error.log on Windows.

ITA logs only the initialization error messages in to the error log file.

If the PALog.INI is corrupted or invalid property values are assigned, no error


messages are logged to the italog_error.log file. No such error messages appear on
the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

PALog.INI is not recreated if it is corrupted. For every successful logger


initialization, PALog.INI.bkp is overwritten with the PALog.INI.

Importing agent packages


IBM Systems Director Server can import agent packages that have been
downloaded from the Web or obtained on physical media. These agent packages
then can be distributed to managed systems using the Agent Installation Wizard.

The agent packages that IBM Systems Director Server uses are Tivoli Provisioning
Manager automation packages with a file extension of .tcdriver for 6.1.x packages
and .jar for 6.2 packages.

Use the following procedure to import one or more agent packages for distribution
using the Agent Installation Wizard.
1. Download the installation package from the IBM Systems Director Downloads
Web Site at www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/downloads/.
2. Copy the package files to a directory on the management server.
3. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Release Management >
Agents. The available agent and subagent package groups are listed.

Note: A subagent plugs-in to a base agent and provides additional capabilities


to support IBM Systems Director plug-ins such as IBM Systems Director
VMControl. This documentation uses the collective term “agents” to refer to
both agents and subagents.
4. Click Import Agent. The Import Agent window opens.
5. Type the path on the management server where you copied the package files in
step 2, and then click OK.

All of the agent packages that are found in the specified path are imported, and a
confirmation message appears indicating that the packages were successfully
imported.

408 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: The imported packages might not appear in the agent package groups list
immediately.

After the agent packages are successfully imported and appear in the agent
package groups, you can install the packages using the Agent Installation Wizard.
Related tasks
“Installing agents using the Agent Installation Wizard”
Related information

"Developing automation" in the Tivoli Provisioning Manager Information


Center

Installing agents using the Agent Installation Wizard


You can use the Agent Installation Wizard to install agent packages on managed
systems.

IBM Systems Director Server requires a number of agent packages that can be
deployed to managed systems using the Agent Installation Wizard.

Note: If you install IBM Systems Director Server 6.2.1 from the DVD media, the
6.2 agent packages are imported, unless you are installing from the AIX DVD
media, in which case no agent packages are imported. If you install IBM Systems
Director Server from the Web download file, no agent packages are imported for
any operating system. So, regardless of the installation method that you use, you
need to download the 6.2.1 agent packages separately.

The imported agent packages are located in the dynamic group “Agent Package
Groups” and can be accessed by clicking Release Management > Agents in the
navigation area. You use the Agent Installation Wizard to select one of these agent
packages to install and one or more systems on which to install the agent package.
Then, the wizard creates an agent installation job that can run immediately or at a
scheduled time.

Complete the following steps to import the agent packages:


1. Download the remote agent packages from the “IBM Systems Director Agents
for Remote Deployment with Agent Installation wizard” section of the IBM
Systems Director Downloads Web Site at www.ibm.com/systems/
management/director/downloads/.
2. Copy the packages to a location of your choice on the IBM Systems Director
Server system.
3. Import the packages with the Agent Installation Wizard.
4. Make any required changes to the diragent.rsp and or platform.rsp response
files. See the topic for your operating system under “Installing Common Agent
manually” or “Installing Platform Agent manually” for instructions about how
to change the response files.

Note: If you install IBM Systems Director Server 6.2.1 from the AIX DVD media,
no agents are automatically imported. However, the 6.2.1 agent packages for
remote deployment are provided on the media so that you can easily import them
manually.

Complete the following steps to install agents using the Agent Installation Wizard:
1. Start the Agent Installation Wizard. You can start the wizard in multiple ways:

Chapter 9. Managing agents 409


v From the Welcome page, click Start. Then, click Install agents on systems.
v Right-click an agent package or a managed system and select Release
Management > Install Agent.
2. If the Agent Installation Wizard Welcome page appears, click Next.
3. In the Agent Installation Wizard Agents page, complete the following steps:
a. Select the agent or subagent package that you want to install in the
Available list.

Note: A subagent plugs-in to a base agent and provides additional


capabilities to support IBM Systems Director plug-ins such as IBM Systems
Director VMControl. This documentation uses the collective term “agents”
to refer to both agents and subagents.
b. Click Add. The selected agent package is displayed in the Selected list.

Notes:
v Depending on how you started the Agent Installation Wizard, one or
more agent packages might already be displayed in the Selected list.
v The Agent Installation Wizard can install only one agent package at a
time. If more than one agent package is displayed in the Selected list,
you will not be able to advance to the Systems page.
c. Click Next.
4. In the Agent Installation Wizard Systems page, complete the following steps:
a. Select the managed systems on which you want to install the agent package
in the Available list.
b. Click Add. The selected systems are displayed in the Selected list.

Notes:
v Depending on how you started the Agent Installation Wizard, one or
more systems might already be displayed in the Selected list.
v Depending on the agent package being installed, some selected systems
might not be valid targets for installation. The wizard checks the selected
systems for some or all of the following criteria to ensure that the
systems are valid targets for installing the selected agent package before
allowing you to continue:
– operating system family
– operating system version
– operating system distribution
– operating system name
– server architecture
c. Click Next.
5. In the Agent Installation Wizard Summary page, review the Selected Agents
and Selected Systems lists to ensure that they are correct.
v If the selections are not correct, click Back and make the necessary changes.
v If the selections are correct, click Finish.
After you click Finish, the Run - Install Agent window opens.
6. In the Run - Install Agent window, click the Schedule tab. On this page, you
can choose to run the job immediately or schedule the job to run at a later time.
a. A job name is required and the Name field provides a unique default name.
To change the default name, type a job name in the field.

410 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


b. To run the job immediately, click Run Now and go to step 7. Otherwise,
click Schedule.
c. In the Schedule list, select how frequently you want the job to run. The
default setting is Once. Other values are Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly,
Yearly, or Custom. Also, you can specify whether to run the job on the
weekend.
d. Select the date and time to run the job for the first time.
e. Select the time range for the job to repeat.
7. Click the Notification tab. On this page you can customize a notification that is
sent by e-mail.
a. Select from the available criteria to customize when the e-mail notification is
sent. You can specify that the e-mail be sent when one of the following
criteria is met:
v When the job begins.
v When the job completes successfully.
v When the job fails. You can further customize this criterion by setting
either the percentage of target systems on which the job had errors or the
number of systems on which the job had errors. Therefore, if the job runs
on five systems, the job has errors on two systems, and you set the
criterion threshold to 50%, the notification is not sent.
v When the job receives any error.
b. Type your e-mail address, e-mail server, and e-mail server port.

Tip: You can provide only one e-mail address.


8. Click the Options tab. On this page you can select additional options for the
job behavior.
a. Select whether you want the job to run according to your management
server's time or the target system's time.

Tip: Make sure that you know the time and time zone to which the
respective systems' clocks are set.
b. Select whether you want the job to fail if a system is offline or if you want
the job to run when the system is online again.
9. Click OK to save the job.
Click Cancel to exit from the Run window without saving the job.
If the job is created successfully, a message is displayed on the page from
which you started the Scheduler. If the job creation fails, a message is displayed
in the Run window so that you can correct the job.
The job created by the Agent Installation Wizard will transfer the agent
self-extracting script and the agent response file into the following directory,
which depends on your version and agent level, on the target system:
6.x Common Agent
/tmp/commonagent_tmp
6.x Platform Agent
/tmp/platformagent_temp
5.x Common Agent
install_root/SwDistPk

After the files are copied, the installation file sets are extracted into the /tmp
directory and installed. The files are then removed after a successful
installation. You need to ensure that there is sufficient space on the target

Chapter 9. Managing agents 411


system to copy the self-extracting script and extract the file sets. Refer to the
space requirements as specified in “Hardware requirements for systems
running Common Agent or Platform Agent”.
If the agent deployment completes with errors, check the log file for your target
operating system for a possible root cause:
v AIX and Linux: /var/log/dirinst.log
v Windows: %WINDIR%/dirserverinst_timestamp.log or %WINDIR%/
diragentinst_timestamp.log

Note: For more information about error log files, see “Information to provide
to the IBM Technical Support Center or IBM Systems Director customer forum”.

Notes for AIX:


v Refer to “Installing Common Agent on AIX” for more detail on the
self-extracting script and the response file options.
v For AIX server and agents, it is less space consuming to remotely install
agents using NIM as explained in the IBM Systems Director Best Practices
wiki page “Installing IBM Systems Director Common Agent for AIX using
NIM” at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/WikiPtype/
Installing+IBM+Systems+Director+Common+Agent+for+AIX+using+NIM.
Installing with NIM does not allow the use of a response file.

You can view the status of the agent installation job by clicking Task Management
> Active and Scheduled Jobs.
Related tasks

Install IBM Systems Director on the management server.

Verify that the systems meet the requirements for the agents you will install.
“Importing agent packages” on page 408
Related information

IBM Systems Director for Power Systems wiki

"Developing automation" in the Tivoli Provisioning Manager Information


Center

Restarting agents
The following topics contain information about stopping, starting, and checking
the status of Common Agent and Platform Agent.

Restarting Common Agent


Restarting Common Agent requires that you run a command to restart certain
processes and, for other processes, run one command to stop the processes and
then run another command to start them again.

Before you stop Common Agent, warn users to finish their work or stop the
processes that they are running.

To restart Common Agent, complete the following steps:


1. Stop the Common Agent processes.

412 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v If you are running AIX or Linux, type the following command on a
command line and press Enter:
install_root/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh stop

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation.
v If you are running IBM i, type the following command on a command line
and press Enter:
ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(CAS)

Note: The IBM i Common Agent an IBM i TCP server.


v If you are running Windows, type the following command on a command
line and press Enter:
install_root\agent\runtime\agent\bin\endpoint.bat stop
2. Start the Common Agent processes.
v If you are running AIX or Linux, type the following command on a
command line and press Enter:
install_root/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh start

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation.
v If you are running IBM i, type the following command on a command line
and press Enter:
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(CAS)
v If you are running Windows, type the following command on a command
line and press Enter:
install_root\agent\runtime\agent\bin\endpoint.bat start
3. Obtain the status of Common Agent to ensure that it started successfully.
v If you are running AIX or Linux, type the following command on a
command line and press Enter:
install_root/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh status

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation.

Restarting Platform Agent


Restarting Platform Agent requires that you run a command to restart certain
processes and, for other processes, run one command to stop the processes and
then run another command to start them again.

Before you stop Platform Agent, warn users to finish their work or stop the
processes that they are running.

To restart Platform Agent, complete the following steps:


1. Stop the Platform Agent processes.
v If you are running AIX, type the following command on a command line and
press Enter:
stopsrc -s platform_agent

Note: Stopping Platform Agent does not also stop the CIM server. If you
want to stop the CIM server, type the following command and press Enter:

Chapter 9. Managing agents 413


stopsrc -s cimsys
v If you are running Linux, type the following commands on a command line
and press Enter after each one:
/etc/init.d/cimserverd stop
/etc/init.d/tier1slpinst stop
/etc/init.d/cimlistenerd stop
/etc/init.d/ibmsa stop (Platform Agent 5.20.3x only)
/etc/init.d/paslpd stop (Platform Agent 6.2.1 only)
v If you are running IBM i, type the following command on a command line
and press Enter:
ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*CIMOM)

Note: The IBM i Platform Agent is an IBM i TCP server.


v If you are running Windows, go to the Services panel (Start Menu > Settings
> Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) and stop the following
services in the specified order:
a. IBM Cimlistener Service
b. IBM SLP SA
c. IBM SLP Attributes Service
d. IBM WMI+A Service
2. Start the Platform Agent processes.
v If you are running AIX, type the following command on a command line and
press Enter:
startsrc -s platform_agent

Note: If it is not already running, the CIM server is automatically started by


Platform Agent.
v If you are running Linux, type the following commands on a command line
and press Enter after each one:
/etc/init.d/ibmsa start (Platform Agent 5.20.3x only)
/etc/init.d/paslpd start (Platform Agent 6.2.1 only)
/etc/init.d/cimlistenerd start
/etc/init.d/tier1slpinst start
/etc/init.d/cimserverd start

Note: If you choose to use a restart option instead of stop and start, the
cimlistenerd, tier1slpinst, and cimserverd commands each also have that
option:
/etc/init.d/cimlistenerd restart
/etc/init.d/tier1slpinst restart
/etc/init.d/cimserverd restart
v If you are running IBM i, type the following command on a command line
and press Enter:
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*CIMOM)
v If you are running Windows, go to the Services panel (Start Menu > Settings
> Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) and start the following
services in the specified order:
a. IBM Cimlistener Service
b. IBM SLP SA
c. IBM SLP Attributes Service
d. IBM WMI+A Service
3. Obtain the status of Platform Agent to ensure that it started successfully.

414 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v If you are running AIX, type the following command on a command line and
press Enter:
lssrc -s platform_agent
v If you are running Windows, go to the Services panel (Start Menu > Settings
> Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) and ensure that the
following services are running:
– IBM Cimlistener Service
– IBM SLP SA
– IBM SLP Attributes Service
– IBM WMI+A Service

Setting the agent manager for IBM Systems Director Server


By default, IBM Systems Director is configured to use its embedded agent
manager. However, you can configure IBM Systems Director Server to use a
different agent manager.

You can configure how IBM Systems Director interacts with the common agent
services architecture to secure your Common Agent managed systems and to
improve scalability and performance.

Important: Setting the agent manager incorrectly will prevent IBM Systems
Director Server from communicating with common agents.

Viewing the agent manager properties


Some basic properties of the agent manager can be displayed in the IBM Systems
Director Web interface.

To view information about the configured agent manager, use the following
procedure:
1. Click Settings > Agent Manager Configuration.
2. Optional: Click the name of a listed agent manager.

The following properties are displayed for agent managers in the IBM Systems
Director Web interface:
Active Whether or not the agent manager is the active agent manager for IBM
Systems Director Server.
CAS Version
The common agent services version of the agent manager.
IP Address
The IP address of the agent manager.
Name The globally unique identifier (GUID) of the system on which the agent
manager is installed.

Adding a new agent manager


You can configure IBM Systems Director to use additional agent managers in
addition to the default agent manager that is installed with IBM Systems Director
Server.

Chapter 9. Managing agents 415


IBM Systems Director uses only one agent manager at a time; the agent manager in
use is the active agent manager. You can add other agent managers in the Agent
Manager Configuration page, but only the active agent manager is used for
communication with Common Agents.

Note: For descriptions of resource managers and agent managers, see “Common
agent services”.

Use the following procedure to add a new agent manager:


1. Click Settings > Agent Manager Configuration.
2. In the Agent Manager Configuration page, click Add.
3. In the Add a New Agent Manager window, type the requested information for
the agent manager you are adding, and then click OK.
Agent Manager host name or IP address
The host name or IP address of the agent manager you are adding.
Resource Manager Registration user name
The user name that is used to register IBM Systems Director Server
with the agent manager.
Resource Manager Registration password
The password that is used to register IBM Systems Director Server with
the agent manager.
Agent Registration password
The password that is used to register common agents with the agent
manager.
Catalogue service port
The port that is used for non-secure, or public, communications.

Note: The agent recovery service listens for registration failures on this
port number in addition to port 80.
Make the new agent manager active
If selected, this check box sets the new agent manager as the active
agent manager for IBM Systems Director Server.

Important: Changing the active agent manager in IBM Systems


Director migrates all of the common agents that are registered with the
previously active agent manager to the new active agent manager. This
has two implications:
v Depending on the number of common agents that are registered with
the previously active agent manager, the migration process could
take some time, during which some common agents might not be
available for management by IBM Systems Director.
v After the common agents are migrated to the new active agent
manager, they will no longer be able to be managed by any
management applications (including other installations of IBM
Systems Director) that use the agent manager from which they were
migrated. In order to manage the migrated common agents with
other management applications, the management applications must
be configured to use the new active agent manager.

416 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts
“Common agent services” on page 399

Setting the active agent manager


You can set the active agent manager from the Agent Manager Configuration page.

IBM Systems Director uses only one agent manager at a time to communicate with
common agents. This agent manager is the active agent manager. If no agent
manager is active, IBM Systems Director will not be able to manage common
agents.

Important: Changing the active agent manager in IBM Systems Director migrates
all of the common agents that are registered with the previously active agent
manager to the new active agent manager. This has two implications:
v Depending on the number of common agents that are registered with the
previously active agent manager, the migration process could take some time,
during which some common agents might not be available for management by
IBM Systems Director.
v After the common agents are migrated to the new active agent manager, they
will no longer be able to be managed by any management applications
(including other installations of IBM Systems Director) that use the agent
manager from which they were migrated. In order to manage the migrated
common agents with other management applications, the management
applications must be configured to use the new active agent manager.

To set the active agent manager, use the following procedure:


1. Click Settings > Agent Manager Configuration.
2. In the Agent Manager Configuration page, select the agent manager that you
want to activate, and then click Make Active.
3. In the confirmation prompt, click Yes.
Related tasks
“Managing the agent manager used by a Common Agent” on page 420

Deleting an agent manager


You can remove an agent manager from the Agent Manager Configuration page.

Note: You cannot delete the active agent manager. If you need to delete the active
agent manager, you must first make a different agent manager active.

To delete an agent manager from the Agent Manager Configuration page, use the
following procedure:
1. Click Settings > Agent Manager Configuration.
2. In the Agent Manager Configuration page, select the agent manager you want
to delete, and then click Delete. The Delete Selected Agent Managers window
prompts you for confirmation.
3. Click OK in the Delete Selected Agent Managers window.

The agent manager is removed from the Agent Manager Configuration page, and
IBM Systems Director Server will no longer use the agent manager to communicate
with common agents.

Deleting an agent manager from the Agent Manager Configuration page does not
uninstall the agent manager or delete any agent manager data.

Chapter 9. Managing agents 417


Using a remote agent manager with IBM Systems Director
There are several reasons why you might want to use a remote agent manager
instead of the agent manager that is embedded in IBM Systems Director Server.

If you need to manage the same common agents with more than one instance of
IBM Systems Director Server, all of the instances of IBM Systems Director Server
must use the same agent manager.

These situations are addressed by configuring one or more of the management


applications to use a remote agent manager. In some cases, the remote agent
manager can be the lightweight runtime version of agent manager that is
embedded in IBM Systems Director Server. In other cases, a full version of agent
manager must be installed.

The agent manager can run under one of the following types of enterprise
application server environments:
IBM WebSphere Application Server
Agent manager can use an existing installation of a supported version of
IBM WebSphere Application Server. The agent manager applications can be
installed in the same application server as your other products, or it can be
in an application server that is dedicated to the agent manager.
lightweight runtime environment
The agent manager applications can be installed in the same lightweight
runtime instance as your other products, or it can use an instance that is
dedicated to the agent manager.

Note: The agent manager that is installed as an embedded component of


IBM Systems Director Server uses the lightweight runtime environment.

Using the embedded agent manager of a remote IBM Systems


Director Server
If your management environment uses IBM Systems Director exclusively, and if
your goal is to manage the same common agents with more than one instance of
IBM Systems Director Server, you can configure multiple instances of IBM Systems
Director Server to use the embedded agent manager of one of your IBM Systems
Director Server instances.

Before beginning this procedure, ensure that you have the following information
available:
v the host name or IP address of the agent manager you will use
v the user name and password of the IBM Systems Director user that will be used
to register IBM Systems Director Server with agent manager
v the agent registration password that is used to register common agents with
agent manager
v the public communications port used by agent manager

418 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


IBM Systems IBM Systems
Director Server Director Server

Resource manager Resource manager

Embedded agent Embedded agent


manager manager

Common agents

Using an agent manager other than the agent manager that is


embedded in IBM Systems Director Server
If your management environment will use any other management applications in
addition to IBM Systems Director, if you need to configure agent manager for high
availability, or if you want to improve performance by installing agent manager on
a system without IBM Systems Director Server, you can configure IBM Systems
Director Server to use an agent manager other than the embedded one.

IBM Systems Director can use agent managers that conform to the common agent
services architecture, version 1.4 and later.

Before beginning this procedure, ensure that you have the following information
available:
v the host name or IP address of the agent manager you will use
v the user name and password of the IBM Systems Director user that will be used
to register IBM Systems Director Server with agent manager
v the agent registration password that is used to register common agents with
agent manager
v the public communications port used by agent manager

Chapter 9. Managing agents 419


IBM Systems IBM Systems
Director Server Director Server

Resource manager Resource manager

Agent manager

Embedded agent Embedded agent


manager manager

Common agents

Managing the agent manager used by a Common Agent


A Common Agent managed system can be managed by only one agent manager at
a time. If that agent manager is not the agent manager that IBM Systems Director
uses, you must unregister the Common Agent in order to manage it with IBM
Systems Director.

Use the following procedures to:


v Identify the agent manager that is being used by a Common Agent managed
system
v Unregister the Common Agent from an agent manager, if needed
v Register the Common Agent with the agent manager that is being used by IBM
Systems Director

Notes:
v To manage a common agent with more than one instance of IBM Systems
Director Server, you must register all IBM Systems Director Server instances with
the same agent manager. For this purpose, you can use the agent manager that
is embedded in any of the IBM Systems Director Server instances.
v To manage a common agent with both IBM Systems Director Server and a
different management application, you must register both management
applications with the same agent manager. For this purpose, you can use the
agent manager that is embedded in IBM Systems Director Server.
v An alternative to changing the agent manager that is used by Common Agent is
to configure IBM Systems Director Server to use the agent manager that is used
by Common Agent. Doing so will configure all Common Agent managed
systems managed by that IBM Systems Director Server to use the new agent
manager. See “Setting the active agent manager”.

420 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related tasks
“Setting the active agent manager” on page 417

Identifying the agent manager for a Common Agent managed


system
Use one of the following procedures to determine the agent manager for a
Common Agent managed system:
v On the Common Agent managed system: Issue the following command (all on
one line):
or Linux

/opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/bin/agentcli.sh configurator getConfig


Registration.Server.Host
Windows

install_root\agent\runtime\agent\bin\agentcli configurator getConfig


Registration.Server.Host

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director installation.
The IP address of the agent manager is displayed.
v On the management server: Issue the following command (all on one line):

/opt/freeware/cimom/pegasus/bin/slp_query
--type=service:management-software.IBM:usma --address=agent_ip
Linux

Platform Agent 6.2.1


/opt/ibm/icc/bin/slptool options

Where options are the options that you specify based on the information
in the slptool command topic.
Platform Agent 5.20.3x
/opt/ibm/icc/slp/bin/slp_query
--type=service:management-software.IBM:usma --address=agent_ip
Windows

\Program Files\Common Files\IBM\ICC\slp\bin\slp_query


--type=service:management-software.IBM:usma --address=agent_ip

where agent_ip is the IP address of the Common Agent managed system.


The agent manager is identified in the results by either of the following strings:
– manager=am_ip, which indicates that the agent manager is in managed mode,
where am_ip is either localhost or the IP address of the agent manager. For
example, this command might display the following information:
0
1
64
URL: service:management-software.IBM:usma://abcd.ibm.com
ATTR: (ip-address=9.10.11.12@9.10.11.12@192.168.71.82),(mac-address=0.0.4.8.fe.8
0),(tivguid=47FFE92E9BC611DD8E940063C0A84752),(uid=7f2f7642b4550606),(timezone-o
ffset=-360),(version=6.1),(port=9510),(manager=9.10.11.12)
– manager=unmanaged, which indicates that the agent manager is in unmanaged
mode.

Chapter 9. Managing agents 421


Unregistering the agent manager for a Common Agent managed
system
If the agent manager for the Common Agent managed system is not the agent
manager that is being used by IBM Systems Director, you can unregister the
Common Agent managed system with the incorrect agent manager and then
discover the Common Agent managed system to set the agent manager to the one
that is being used by IBM Systems Director. Complete the following steps on the
Common Agent managed system:
1. Delete the common agent certificate files. At a command prompt, type the
following command:
or Linux

rm -rf /opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/cert/*
Windows

DEL /F /S /Q install_root\agent\runtime\agent\cert\*.*

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation.
2. In a text editor, open the install_root\agent\runtime\agent\config\
endpoint.properties file for editing, where install_root is the root directory of
your IBM Systems Director installation. Note that this path uses the backslash
(\) to delimit the directory; depending on the system that you are using, you
might be required to enter the path using the forward slash (/).
3. In the endpoint.properties file, find the unmanagedAgent property and set it
to true:
unmanagedAgent=true
4. In the endpoint.properties file, find and replace the IP address of the agent
manager (from “Identifying the agent manager for a Common Agent managed
system” on page 421) with localhost.

Tip: This generally means changing each of the following lines to specify a
value of localhost:
PatchService.Host=localhost
CatalogueService.Host=localhost
CertManagement.Host=localhost
AgentQuery.Host=localhost
Registration.Server.Host=localhost
TrustedCertificateQuery.Host=localhost
AgentManagerQuery.Host=localhost
5. Save and close the endpoint.properties file.
6. Stop and restart the Common Agent by issuing the following commands:
or Linux

/opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh stop
/opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh start
Windows

install_root\agent\runtime\agent\bin\endpoint.bat stop
install_root\agent\runtime\agent\bin\endpoint.bat start

where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director


installation.
7. Check the agent manager for the Common Agent managed system using the
procedure described in “Identifying the agent manager for a Common Agent
managed system” on page 421. The agent manager should now be unmanaged.
422 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Registering a Common Agent managed system with the IBM
Systems Director agent manager
Before you register a Common Agent managed system with the IBM Systems
Director agent manager, ensure that the following circumstances exist:
v Ensure that no firewalls are blocking bidirectional communication between the
agent manager and the common agent.
v Ensure that the corresponding GMT times for the common agent and agent
manager are synchronized.
v Ensure that the common agent was not managed by another agent manager that
is not the default agent manager of IBM Systems Director Server.
1. In IBM Systems Director Web interface, remove the Common Agent managed
system if it has not already been removed.
2. Discover the Common Agent managed system and request access. The
Common Agent managed system should now be managed by the agent
manager used by IBM Systems Director. To verify this, you can use the
procedure described in “Identifying the agent manager for a Common Agent
managed system” on page 421.

Viewing the agent manager configuration


You can view the configuration of an agent manager in a Web browser.

You can also use this procedure to verify that an agent manager is running.

To view the configuration of an agent manager, use the following procedure:

Open the following address in your browser:


http://host_name:9513/AgentMgr/Info

where host_name is the address of the agent manager host.

Note: The public HTTP port of the agent manager embedded with IBM Systems
Director Server is 9513. If you are using an agent manager with a different public
HTTP port, substitute that port number.

If the agent manager is running, a Web page opens listing information about the
agent manager, including the following items:
v version
v instance ID
v server name
v ports used by the agent manager
v aliases for the root certificate, root key, agent manager certificate, and agent
manager key
v the paths and file names for the root keystore file, the root keystore password
file, the agent manager keystore file, the agent manager truststore file, and the
certificate revocation list file
v key size
v whether a secure connection is used for certificate revocation list download
v certificate revocation list time to live
v the database type and version used by agent manager

Chapter 9. Managing agents 423


Securing Common Agent managed systems
When IBM Systems Director Server discovers Common Agent managed systems,
those systems are secured by the common agent services architecture. If you
suspect a breach of security, you can re-secure your Common Agent managed
systems to protect them from unauthorized management.

Changing the agent registration password


In some cases you might want to change the agent registration password.

The agent registration password serves these purposes:


v Validating the registration of common agents
v Locking the agentTrust.jks truststore file

To change the agent registration password, you first update the agent manager,
and then redistribute the agentTrust.jks truststore file to unregistered common
agents and to IBM Systems Director Server and any other resource managers that
remotely install common agents.

Use the following procedure:


1. Log on to the agent manager server as the user who runs the IBM WebSphere
Application Server processes. This is Administrator on Windows systems. On
Linux systems, this is typically root but can be changed after installing the
agent manager.
2. Run the EncryptAMProps script. Type one of the following commands:

Agent manager type Command


Embedded agent manager on AIX or Linux ./install_root/lwi/runtime/agentmanager/
bin/EncryptAMProps.sh new_password
Embedded agent manager on Windows install_root\lwi\runtime\agentmanager\
bin\EncryptAMProps.bat new_password
Non-embedded agent manager on AIX or ./app_server_root/bin/EncryptAMProps.sh
Linux new_password
Non-embedded agent manager on app_server_root\bin\EncryptAMProps.bat
Windows new_password

where
v new_password is the new agent registration password.
v install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director Server
installation.
v app_server_root is the root directory of the IBM WebSphere Application
Server installation.
On AIX or Linux, this is typically /opt/IBM/AgentManager.
On Windows, this is typically C:\Program Files\IBM\AgentManager.
This script updates the value of the Registration.Agent.Access.Password
property in the AgentManager.properties file.
3. Start the IBM Key Management utility. Type one of the following commands:

Agent manager type Command


Embedded agent manager on AIX or Linux ./install_root/jre/bin/ikeyman.sh
Embedded agent manager on Windows install_root\jre\bin\ikeyman.exe

424 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Agent manager type Command
Non-embedded agent manager on AIX or ./app_server_root/bin/ikeyman.sh
Linux
Non-embedded agent manager on app_server_root\bin\ikeyman.exe
Windows

where:
v install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director Server
installation.
v app_server_root is the root directory of the IBM WebSphere Application
Server installation.
On AIX or Linux, this is typically /opt/IBM/AgentManager.
On Windows, this is typically C:\Program Files\IBM\AgentManager.
4. Open the agentTrust.jks truststore file.
a. In the IBM Key Management window, click Key Database File > Open.
b. In the Open window, set the Key database type to JKS, specify the file
name and location of the agentTrust.jks truststore file, and click OK. The
agentTrust.jks truststore file is located in one of the following directories:

Agent manager type Directory


Embedded agent manager install_root\lwi\runtime\agentmanager\
eclipse\plugins\
com.ibm.tivoli.cas.manager\certs\
Non-embedded agent manager app_server_root\certs\

where:
v install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director Server
installation.
v app_server_root is the root directory of the IBM WebSphere Application
Server installation.
On AIX or Linux, this is typically /opt/IBM/AgentManager.
On Windows, this is typically C:\Program Files\IBM\AgentManager.

Note: The specified directory path uses backslashes. On non-Windows,


systems, substitute forward slashes.
If the agentTrust.jks truststore file is missing or corrupted, you can copy
the agentTrust.jks file from a common agent or resource manager.
However, because the password for the file changes when the common
agent or resource manager registers, you must use the password that
unlocks the file on that system to open the truststore file in step 4c.
c. In the Password Prompt window, type the current agent registration
password and then click OK. The IBM Key Management window now
shows the agentTrust.jks file, which contains the signer certificate named
rootcert.
5. In the IBM Key Management window, click Key Database File > Change
Password.
6. In the Change Password window, enter and confirm the new password that
you specified in step 2 on page 424, and then click OK. The agentTrust.jks
truststore file is encrypted with the new password.
7. Click Key Database File > Exit to close the IBM Key Management window.

Chapter 9. Managing agents 425


8. Redistribute the agentTrust.jks truststore file to any common agent or
resource manager that has not yet registered. If you created a copy of the
agent installation files or created an installed image for rapidly deploying
common agents, copy the new agentTrust.jks truststore file to that location.

Note: You do not need to redistribute the truststore file to common agents
and resource managers that have successfully registered.
9. On any common agent where you redeployed the truststore file in 8, update
the agent registration password that is stored in an encrypted format in the
endpoint.properties file.

Note: You do not need to change the endpoint.properties file on common


agents that have successfully registered.
To update the saved password, type one of the following commands:

Agent manager type Command


Embedded agent manager on AIX or Linux ./install_root/lwi/runtime/agentmanager/
bin/EncryptPW.sh
agent_registration_password
Embedded agent manager on Windows install_root\lwi\runtime\agentmanager\
bin\EncryptPW.bat
agent_registration_password
Non-embedded agent manager on AIX or ./app_server_root/bin/EncryptPW.sh
Linux agent_registration_password
Non-embedded agent manager on app_server_root\bin\EncryptPW.bat
Windows agent_registration_password

where:
v agent_registration_password is the new agent registration password.
v install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director Server
installation.
v app_server_root is the root directory of the IBM WebSphere Application
Server installation.
On AIX or Linux, this is typically /opt/IBM/AgentManager.
On Windows, this is typically C:\Program Files\IBM\AgentManager.
10. If necessary, redistribute the agentTrust.jks truststore file to any IBM Systems
Director Server instances and any other resource managers that have not yet
registered. Typically, you will not have resource managers that are installed
but not registered.
11. Change the saved agent registration password for any resource manager that
uses it to deploy common agents.
12. Restart the agent manager to start using the new properties file and password.

The agent registration password is now changed throughout your deployment.

Migrating common agents to a different agent manager


You can migrate a common agent to a different management server and agent
manager.
1. Install IBM Systems Director Server on the new management server.
2. On the new management server, configure IBM Systems Director Server to use
the agent manager of the old management server.

426 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


3. On the new management server, configure IBM Systems Director Server to use
the agent manager of the new management server. The common agents that
were managed using the old agent manager will be migrated to use the new
agent manager.

Binding Platform Agent to specific IP addresses


Platform Agent 6.2.x supports multiple network interface card (multi-NIC) IP
address configurations for both Linux and Windows. However, only Windows
supports the act of binding to particular IP addresses for communication. On
Linux, Platform Agent defaults to bind to all interfaces, so there is no option to
configure a particular IP address.

To specify a particular IP address on Windows and avoid binding Platform Agent


to all interfaces by default, complete the following steps:
1. Issue the following command to stop wmicimserver:
net stop wmicimserver
2. Wait until wmicpa stops or issue the following command to force it to stop:
taskkill /F /IM wmicpa.exe
3. Issue the following command to force wmiprvse to stop:
taskkill /F /IM wmiprvse.exe
4. Open the wmia.properties file, which is located in %Program Files%\Common
Files\IBM\icc\cimom\data\, for editing.
5. Edit the following IPv4 and IPv6 properties as specified:
Table 32. Binding values to set for properties in wmia.properties
Property and value Result
httpBindAddress=IPv4_Address Will bind to IPv4_Address:5988, which is not
secure
httpsBindAddress=IPv4_Address Will bind to IPv4_Address:5989, which is
secure
httpIPV6BindAddress=IPv6_Address Will bind to IPv6_Address:5988, which is not
secure
httpsIPV6BindAddress=IPv6_Address Will bind to IPv6_Address:5989, which is
secure

6. Issue the following command to start the wmicimserver:


net start wmicimserver

Disabling IBM Systems Director agents


Certain situations might require that you disable Common Agent or Platform
Agent on AIX.

To permanently disable Common Agent and Platform Agent on AIX, complete the
following steps:
1. Enter the following commands to stop and permanently disable the common
agent:
/opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/agent/bin/endpoint.sh stop
/opt/ibm/director/agent/runtime/nonstop/bin/installnonstop.sh -uninstallservice
2. Enter the following command to stop the platform agent:
stopsrc -s platform_agent

Chapter 9. Managing agents 427


3. Comment out the following line in the /etc/inittab file to permanently disable
the platform agent:
platform_agent:2:once:/usr/bin/startsrc -s platform_agent >/dev/null 2>&1
4. If there are no other applications depending on the cimserver, enter the
following command to stop the cimserver:
stopsrc -s cimsys
5. Comment out the following line in the /etc/inittab file to permanently disable
the cimserver:
cimservices:2:once:/usr/bin/startsrc -s cimsys >/dev/null 2>&1

428 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x
systems
IBM Systems Director provides specific tasks that can help you manage IBM
BladeCenter products and System x systems.

Note: Task support for IBM BladeCenter products includes most blade servers,
such as x86, Power (JSxx), and cell (QSxx) blades.

For a detailed list of supported IBM BladeCenter products and blade servers, see
“Supported IBM BladeCenter products.”
Related concepts

eLearning: Managing blade servers with IBM Systems Director

Supported IBM BladeCenter products


The IBM BladeCenter and System x Management plug-in provides support for
BladeCenter chassis and blade servers.
v IBM BladeCenter E chassis, machine type 8677
v IBM BladeCenter H chassis, machine type 8852
v IBM BladeCenter HT chassis, machine type 8740
v IBM BladeCenter HT chassis, machine type 8750
v IBM BladeCenter S chassis, machine type 8886
v IBM BladeCenter T chassis, machine type 8720
v IBM BladeCenter T chassis, machine type 8730

Service processor communication


Hardware-based service processors, also known as management processors, work
with hardware instrumentation and systems management software and are
important for problem notification and resolution. You also can use them to
remotely manage your system. In an IBM Systems Director environment, service
processors send alerts to IBM Systems Director Server when error conditions occur
in a specific system; these alerts help you to managed your environment
effectively.

There are two pathways along which communication between IBM Systems
Director Server and the service processors present in scalable System x and
xSeries® servers takes place: in-band communication and out-of-band
communication.

In-band communication requirements


IBM Systems Director Server can communicate in-band with service processors in
systems that are running the required IBM Systems Director agent.

To enable in-band communication between IBM Systems Director Server and a


system that contains a service processor, the system must meet the following
criteria:

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 429


v One of the following agents must be installed: Common Agent; IBM Director
Agent, version 5.10 or later; or IBM Director Core Services, version 5.10 or later
(also called Platform Agent). For more information, see “Installing.”
v The service-processor device driver must be installed, and possibly a shared
library to access the device driver. For more information, see “Preparing to
manage service processors with IBM Systems Director.” These agents use a
device driver to pass data to and from the service processor.
After these criteria are met, IBM Systems Director Server can discover the system
and you can request access to the system.

IBM Systems Director 6.1 supports in-band communication for these service
processors:
v IPMI baseboard management controller (BMC)
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Integrated system management processor (ISMP)

Note: You can use only out-of-band communication with management modules.
Related tasks

Preparing to manage service processors with IBM Systems Director

Installing IBM Systems Director

Out-of-band communication requirements


Data is transmitted between the service processor and IBM Systems Director Server
over a shared connection. The type of service processor present in a server
determines which paths out-of-band communication can take. These types of
communication are known as out-of-band communication because they take place
independent of an operating system.

To enable out-of-band communication between IBM Systems Director Server and a


service processor or management module, the following criteria must be met:
v You must configure the service processor or management module with a valid IP
address. For service processors, set the IP address using the Basic Input/Output
System (BIOS) of the server in which the service processor is installed. For
management modules, configure the IP address using crossover cables or the
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to maintain consistent IP
addresses for the service processors. For more information, see the appropriate
documentation:
– IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter User's Guide at http://www.ibm.com/systems/
support/supportsite.wss/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-4TZQAK
&brandind=5000008
– IBM RSA II SL and RSA II User's Guide, at http://www.ibm.com/systems/
support/supportsite.wss/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-57091
&brandind=5000008
– For machine types that include the Intelligent Peripheral Management
Interface (IPMI) baseboard management controller (BMC) and are not blade
servers, the System x hardware documentation
– For IBM BladeCenter products, the management module documentation
– User's Guide for Integrated Management Module from the Integrated
Management Module (IMM) messages - System x page (http://www-
947.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-
5079339&brandind=5000008).

430 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v IBM Systems Director Server must discover the server. In System Discovery,
provide the IP address for the service processor or management module.

Note: IBM Systems Director Server also can automatically discover the service
processor IP address that is used for out-of-band communication if you request
access to an agent that is supported by IBM Systems Director and is installed on
the system containing the service processor. For discovery to succeed, the service
processor device drivers must be installed correctly. For more information about
these agents and device drivers, see “In-band communication requirements.”
v The service processor or management module IP address can change only in the
following situations:
– Using the Configuration Templates task and the applicable templates: Service
Processor Network IP Configuration or the Management Module Network IP
Configuration
– Using the applicable Web interface for the service processor or management
module
In either of these situations, if events are configured correctly, when you change
the IP address an event is generated that updates the IP address information for
IBM Systems Director. For information about incorrect configuration, see
“Out-of-band events are not configured correctly.”

Data is transmitted between the service processor and IBM Systems Director Server
over a shared connection. The following shared connections can be used:
v A local area network (LAN), if the service processor has an integrated network
interface card (NIC) or access to a NIC shared with the server.
v An interconnect gateway. With this type of connection, data is passed from the
service processor to a second service processor. The second service processor
serves as a gateway between IBM Systems Director Server and the first service
processor.
Management modules communicate with IPMI BMC on blade servers using an
interconnect gateway.

The following table lists the pathways that are available for out-of-band
communication:
Table 33. Out-of-band communication pathways
Pathways for out-of-band Possible gateway service processors if an
Type of service processor communication interconnect network is chosen
Management module LAN Not applicable
Advanced management module
IPMI BMC v LAN v Management module
v Over an interconnect network v Advanced management module
v Integrated management module
Remote Supervisor Adapter v LAN v Remote Supervisor Adapter
Remote Supervisor Adapter II v Over an interconnect network v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
ISMP1 Over an interconnect network v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Management module
v Advanced management module
CIM LAN Integrated management module
1
Although the service processor in the eServer 325, 326, and 326m models is called an ISMP, it is a BMC. Use the
BMC information for this service processor.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 431


See the documentation that came with the server for information about configuring
your service processor and interconnect network to ensure that IBM Systems
Director Server receives system alerts.

Notes:
1. Only one of the following systems management applications can communicate
with a service processor at any given time:
v IBM Systems Director Server
v IBM Management Process Command-Line Interface (MPCLI) (also called IBM
Hardware Command-Line Interface)
Advanced management modules with firmware version BPET23A or later are
an exception. They can be configured to permit multiple simultaneous
connections. For more information, see “Out-of-band communication and the
TCP Command Mode protocol.”
2. Not all scalable IBM System x and xSeries servers are supported with the
RXE-100 Remote Expansion Enclosure. If you have one of the following servers
attached to an RXE-100 Remote Expansion Enclosure, you cannot use the
on-board Remote Supervisor Adapter as a gateway service processor:
v xSeries 360
v xSeries 365
v xSeries 440
v xSeries 445
v xSeries 455
The Remote Supervisor Adapter is dedicated to managing the RXE-100 Remote
Expansion Enclosure.
Related reference

Out-of-band events are not configured correctly

Out-of-band communication and the standard TCP Command


Mode protocol
IBM Systems Director Server can communicate out-of-band with service processors
and management modules using the standard TCP Command Mode protocol.

The following IBM service processors and management modules use the standard
TCP Command Mode protocol for communication:
v Management module
v Advanced management module
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
Advanced management modules also can communicate using the secure TCP
Command Mode protocol. For more information, see “Out-of-band communication
and the secure TCP Command Mode protocol.”

IBM Systems Director Server uses the standard TCP Command Mode protocol to
communicate with these service processors and management modules. Other IBM
programs use the standard TCP Command Mode protocol to communicate with
service processors and management modules also, for example:
v IBM Management Process Command-Line Interface (MPCLI)
v UpdateXpress
v Cluster Systems Management

432 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Active Energy Manager (Standalone edition)

When connecting to the advanced management mode through TCP command


mode, the ID used to connect to the advanced management module must be the
same ID that was used to unlock the system. To change the ID used to connect to
the system, follow these steps:
1. Revoke access to the system.
2. Request access to the system using the new user ID.

If IBM Systems Director Server cannot communicate with the service processor or
management module, it can cause problems with that system. You might get errors
such as these:
v Access requests fail
v Inventory collection fails
v Configuration manager fails to deploy plans or templates

If you use another program in your systems-management environment that


communicates using the standard TCP Command Mode protocol, close that
program so IBM Systems Director Server can use the connection to the service
processor or management module.

Important: Do not disable the standard TCP Command Mode protocol unless you
are changing the setting on an advanced management module that supports the
secure TCP Command Mode protocol and you are enabling that protocol.

If the affected system uses an advanced management module, you can increase the
number of connections permitted when using the standard TCP Command Mode
protocol. Log into the advanced management module Web interface and view the
Network Protocols page. On this page, the TCP Command Mode section provides
a setting that you can change to increase the number of connections. This setting is
available only for advanced management modules. The default setting for the
number of connections permitted can vary depending on the firmware version
installed. Check the TCP Command Mode section to determine the current default
setting.

Out-of-band communication and the secure TCP Command


Mode protocol
IBM Systems Director Server can use the secure TCP Command Mode protocol to
communicate with advanced management modules with firmware version 4.5 or
later. Other IBM programs, such as Active Energy Manager (Standalone edition),
can use the secure TCP Command Mode protocol to communicate with advanced
management modules also.

IBM Systems Director Server can connect to advanced management modules using
either the secure or standard TCP Command Mode protocol, but not both at the
same time. By default, IBM Systems Director Server will attempt to use the secure
TCP Command Mode protocol. If secure TCP Command Mode is not enabled on
the advanced management module, IBM Systems Director Server will use the
standard TCP Command Mode protocol.

To change the preference of using the secure TCP Command Mode protocol first,
complete the following steps:
1. Navigate to the install_root/lwi/runtime/data/asmDefinitions.properties file,
where install_root is the root directory of your IBM Systems Director

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 433


installation. Note that this path uses the backslash (\) to delimit the directory;
depending on the system that you are using, you might be required to enter
the path using the forward slash (/).
2. Edit the file and change the following setting to false:
mm.stcm.precedence = false

On the advanced management module, either standard TCP Command Mode


protocol or secure TCP Command Mode protocol must be enabled. You can enable
both protocols; however, do not disable both protocols. By default, advanced
management modules are enabled to use the standard TCP Command Mode
protocol. To enable the secure TCP Command Mode protocol, log into the
advanced management module Web interface and view the Network Protocols
page. On this page, the TCP Command Mode section provides a setting to enable
the protocol.

Advanced management modules can support a maximum of 20 TCP Command


Mode protocol connections at a time. This includes both secure and standard
connections.

When connecting to the advanced management mode through secure TCP


command mode, the ID used to connect to the advanced management module
must be the same ID that was used to unlock the system. To change the ID used to
connect to the system:
1. Revoke access to the system.
2. Request access to the system using the new user ID.

Out-of-band communication and the standard CIM protocol


IBM Systems Director Server can use the DMTF standard CIM-XML protocol to
communicate with integrated management modules.

Other IBM programs, such as these, also use the standard CIM-XML protocol to
communicate with integrated management modules:
v UpdateXpress
v Cluster Systems Management

By default, service processors are enabled to use the standard CIM protocol. When
connecting to the service processors through CIM, the ID used to connect to the
service processors is the same ID that was used to discover and unlock the system.
To change the ID used to connect to the system, follow these steps:
1. Revoke access to the system.
2. Use the other user ID to request access to the system.

When IBM Systems Director Server cannot communicate with the service
processor, you might have problems with that system, for example, access requests
might fail.

Out-of-band alert-forwarding strategies


System x and xSeries service processor provide out-of-band support for
alert-forwarding strategies. The type of service processor determines the type of
alert-forwarding strategy that is available.

The following table contains information about possible alert-forwarding strategies.

434 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 34. Out-of-band alert-forwarding strategies
Type of service processor Possible alert-forwarding strategies
Intelligent Peripheral Management Interface IPMI Platform Event Traps
(IPMI) baseboard management controller
(BMC)
Integrated system management processor Not applicable
(ISMP)
Management module v IBM Systems Director comprehensive
Advanced management module v IBM Systems Director over modem
v SNMP over LAN
Remote Supervisor Adapter v IBM Systems Director comprehensive
Remote Supervisor Adapter II v IBM Systems Director over LAN
v IBM Systems Director over modem
v Integrated management module
v SNMP over LAN
v SNMP over point-to-point protocol (PPP)
v E-mail over LAN
v E-mail over PPP
v Pager (numeric or alphanumeric)
Integrated management module CIM Indications

Note: Newer service processors do not use IBM Systems Director over LAN. This
alert-forwarding strategy was replaced by IBM Systems Director comprehensive.
When both strategies are available, it is recommended that you use IBM Systems
Director comprehensive also.

Service processors and resource types


Any System x server and BladeCenter unit that has a supported service processor
or management module can forward events to IBM Systems Director Server. When
IBM Systems Director Server generates event types in response to an event, the
target system of the specific event type can vary.

Note: If IBM Systems Director cannot determine the system type for any service
processor notification, IBM Systems Director identifies the source of the notification
using the IP address of the service processor that sent the notification to IBM
Systems Director Server. For example, this method might be used if a system is
configured to send notifications to IBM Systems Director Server, but IBM Systems
Director Server currently does not have a system type representing that system.

The following table lists the service processor type and its associated target
resource type.

Service processor type Target resource type

v Management module v BladeCenter chassis


v Advanced management module v Blade server

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 435


Service processor type Target resource type
Systems with one of the following service Server
processors:
v Intelligent Peripheral Management
Interface (IPMI) baseboard management
controller (BMC)
v Integrated system management processor
(ISMP)
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Integrated management module

Viewing the IBM BladeCenter and System x management summary


You can view a summary of all management and configuration activity that is
associated with IBM BladeCenter products and x86-based and x64-based System x
servers, including the number of systems that have been discovered, have
problems, and require updates. It also provides information about required I/O
module plug-ins. Note that information on this page is refreshed automatically
when there are any changes.

To view the summary, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. Click the Manage tab.
3. On the Manage page, scroll to the IBM BladeCenter and System x section of
the page and click the IBM BladeCenter and System x Management section
heading. The IBM BladeCenter and System x management summary is
displayed.
4. View the Management section. This section provides the following information:
v The number of IBM BladeCenter chassis or blade servers that have problems,
the number of IBM BladeCenter resources that are not in compliance, the
number of System x servers or service processors that have problems, and
the number of System x resources that are not in compliance.

Note: You can click any of these links to display a list of the affected IBM
BladeCenter or System x products.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
System discovery
Click to discover systems and specific types of resources in your
network.
View servers and service processors
Click to display the servers and service processors that have been
discovered in your systems-management environment. If a server has
Common Agent or Platform Agent installed, the server is displayed.
Otherwise, IBM Systems Director must use out-of-band
communication with the service processor and the service processor
is displayed.
View monitors and set thresholds
Click to open the Monitors task. On this page, you can select a
system or group to monitor and then select a view to show. Create
your own view to group monitors of your choice.

436 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


View and collect inventory
Click to open the View and Collect Inventory task. On this page, you
can collect the most current inventory from a resource or view the
inventory of a resource.
Check for updates
Click to open the Check for Updates page. On this page, you can
select the updates you want to check.
5. View the BladeCenter Additional Configuration Plug-in Setup section. This
section provides the following information:
v A pie chart and corresponding list that indicates the number of I/O module
plug-ins in each of the following groups:
– Required
– Not installed
– Installed, but have errors
– Installed, but require activation
– Active

Note: You can click any of these links to display a list of the affected
I/O-module plug-ins.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
View I/O module plug-ins
Click to open the I/O Module Plug-ins page that lists the available
I/O-module vendor plug-ins and indicates whether any of the
plug-ins are required before you can configure the IBM BladeCenter
chassis in your environment. If a plug-in is required and is not
installed, this page directs you to the Web page from which you can
download it.
View blade servers and chassis
Click to display the blade servers, switches, and chassis that have
been discovered in your systems-management environment.
6. View the Configuration section. This section provides the following
information:
v Information about any configuration plans that have been created and set as
detect-apply plans for BladeCenter or System x systems.
v In the Common tasks area, the following links are provided:
Configuration plans
Click to view available configuration plans that you can use to
configure hardware and operating systems.
Templates
Click to view configuration templates that store device parameters
and settings for IBM BladeCenter chassis.

You also can reach the summary page by using Find a Task. For more information,
see “Finding a task.”

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 437


Related concepts

eLearning: Managing blade servers with IBM Systems Director

Downloading and activating BladeCenter I/O module plug-ins


Obtain plug-ins for BladeCenter I/O modules to manage your device configuration
in IBM Systems Director.

To download and activate I/O module plug-ins, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. Click the Manage tab.
3. On the Manage page, scroll to the IBM BladeCenter and System x section of
the page and click the section heading. The IBM BladeCenter and System x
management summary is displayed.
4. In the Setup Additional Configuration Plug-ins section, click View I/O
module plug-ins. The I/O Module Plug-ins page is displayed.
5. View the I/O module plug-ins status in the table and determine which plug-ins
you want for your environment. The following values are available for the
Status column:
Not required
An I/O module plug-in is installed, but there currently is no
discovered switch that requires the plug-in.
Required – Not installed
An I/O module plug-in that is required by a discovered switch is not
installed.
Required – Installed with Errors
An I/O module plug-in that is required by a discovered switch is
installed, but the plug-in code cannot be loaded by the I/O module.
Required – Activation required
An I/O module plug-in that is required by a discovered switch is
installed without any error, but it is not registered with the
configuration manager plug-in. Registration activates the corresponding
switch features in configuration manager.
Active An I/O module plug-in that is required by a discovered switch is
installed without any error and is registered with the configuration
manager plug-in. Registration activates the corresponding switch
features in configuration manager.
6. Click Download Plug-ins. The Web site opens in a new window.
7. Locate and download the I/O module plug-ins that are required.
8. Manually install the downloaded plug-ins on the IBM Systems Director server.
For installation instructions, see the documentation for the plug-in.
9. Click Activate Installed Plug-ins. IBM Systems Director scans the newly
installed files for the I/O module plug-ins and activates the plug-ins. The
status for each plug-in is updated in the Status column.

Configuring integrated management modules


You can use configuration manager to configure most settings for integrated
management modules. However, some configuration tasks are currently not
supported.

438 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


For information about how IBM Systems Director communicates to the IMM using
LAN over USB to interface the IMM, see this topic in the IBM BladeCenter
information center: Using LAN over USB to interface the IMM.

Integrated management module task support and features


IBM Systems Director provides task support for integrated management modules.
However, a few tasks are not supported and you must use workaround support.

The following table lists configuration tasks that this version of IBM Systems
Director does not support for integrated management modules. The table also
observes alternate ways to provide the support to integrated management
modules.
Table 35. Affected configuration tasks and available workaround support
Affected configuration tasks Workaround support
SNMP configuration in configuration Configure SNMP using the IBM
manager management-module Web interface
SMTP configuration in configuration Configure SMTP using the IBM
manager management-module Web interface
Ports configuration in configuration manager Configure ports using the IBM
does not provide network port reassignment management-module Web interface
settings
Enhanced user login security configuration Configure security using the IBM
is not provided in configuration manager management-module Web interface

Service Processor configuration support

Service Processor configurations are not supported on IMM endpoints. Therefore,


those configurations are not shown for the IMM endpoint when getting the current
configuration. Additionally, you cannot deploy Service Processor configurations on
IMM endpoints.

Secure Socket Layer support

Integrated management modules support both secure socket layer (SSL) and
unsecure socket layer. By default, SSL is not enabled. If SSL is enabled, IBM
Systems Director will use SSL.

Management Processor Command Line Interface support

Management Processor Command Line Interface (MPCLI) is not supported on


systems with integrated management modules. The following systems are affected:
v iDataPlex™, machine types 7321 and 7323
v System x3200 M3 machine types 7327, 7328
v System x3400M2, machine types 7836 and 7837
v System x3500M2, machine type 7839
v System x3550 M2 machine types 7946 and 7839
v System x3550 M3 machine type 7944
v System x3620 M3 machine type 7376
v System x3650 M3 machine type 7945
v System x3550M2, machine type 7946
v System x3650M2, machine type 7947
v System x3690 X5 machine type 7148
v System x3850 M2 machine type 7233

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 439


v System x3950 X5 machine type 7145
v System x3950 M2 machine types 7141 and 7233
v IBM BladeCenter HS22, machine type 7870
v IBM BladeCenter HS22V, machine type 7871
v IBM BladeCenter HX5, machine type 7872

Changing the integrated management module IP address by


way of the Server resource
You can change the integrated management module IP address by way of the
Server resource using IBM Systems Director.

To change the IP address, complete the following steps:


1. Discover the integrated management module by specifying its IP address. For
detailed information about discovery, see “Discovering systems with system
discovery.” A Server resource is displayed in the IBM Systems Director IBM
Systems Director Web interface.
2. Request access to the Server resource.
3. In configuration manager, create the Network Configuration (via CIM protocol)
template. For more information, see “Creating configuration templates” on page
210.
4. In configuration manager, create the “Service Processor Network IP
Configuration” template. For more information, see “Configuring the network
IP for a System x service processor.”
5. Apply the template to the applicable Server resource.

The Server resource loses connectivity, but will go online using the new IP address.

Changing the network port on an integrated management


module
You can change the network port on an integrated management module using IBM
Systems Director and the IBM integrated-management-module Web interface.

To change the network port, complete the following steps:


1. Discover the integrated management module by specifying its IP address. For
detailed information about discovery, see “Discovering systems with system
discovery.” A Server resource is displayed in the IBM Systems Director IBM
Systems Director Web interface.
2. Start the IBM integrated-management-module Web interface using the
integrated management module IP address.
3. Log into the integrated management module.
4. Change the applicable network port settings.
5. Restart the system containing the integrated management module for the
settings to take effect.

The Server resource loses connectivity due to the system restart. When the system
is online again, the Server resource uses the new port.

Configuring integrated management module security


You can configure security for an integrated management module using the IBM
integrated-management-module Web interface.

440 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To configure security, complete the following steps:
1. Start the IBM integrated-management-module Web interface using the
integrated management module IP address.
2. Log into the integrated management module.
3. Set the advanced user security settings.

The advanced user security is applied to the login profiles.

Configuring the Try DHCP setting for integrated management


module
You can configure the Try DHCP, and if that fails use static IP setting for an
integrated management module using IBM Systems Director and the IBM
integrated-management-module Web interface.

To configure security, complete the following steps:


1. Discover the integrated management module by specifying its IP address. For
detailed information about discovery, see “Discovering systems with system
discovery.” A Server resource is displayed in the IBM Systems Director IBM
Systems Director Web interface.
2. Start the IBM integrated-management-module Web interface using the
integrated management module IP address.
3. Log into the integrated management module.
4. Configure the Try DHCP, and if that fails use static IP setting.
5. Restart the system containing the integrated management module for the
settings to take effect.

The Server resource loses connectivity due to the system restart. When the system
is online again, the Server resource uses the new IP address.

Enabling Secure Sockets Layer after discovery


You can enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for the integrated management module
after discovering the resource in IBM Systems Director.

To enable SSL, complete the following steps:


1. Discover the integrated management module by specifying its IP address. For
detailed information about discovery, see “Discovering systems with system
discovery.” A Server resource is displayed in the IBM Systems Director IBM
Systems Director Web interface.
2. Request access to the integrated management module. IBM Systems Director
communicates with the integrated management module using unsecured
sockets layer.
3. Start the IBM integrated-management-module Web interface using the
integrated management module IP address.
4. Log into the integrated management module.
5. Enable SSL and generate a self-signed certificate.
6. Restart the system containing the integrated management module for the
settings to take effect.

IBM Systems Director communicates with the integrated management module


using SSL.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 441


Enabling Secure Sockets Layer before discovery
You can enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for the integrated management module
before discovering the resource in IBM Systems Director.

To enable SSL, complete the following steps:


1. Start the IBM integrated-management-module Web interface using the
integrated management module IP address.
2. Log into the integrated management module.
3. Enable SSL and generate a self-signed certificate.
4. Restart the system containing the integrated management module for the
settings to take effect.
5. Discover the integrated management module by specifying its IP address. For
detailed information about discovery, see “Discovering systems with system
discovery.” A Server resource is displayed in the IBM Systems Director IBM
Systems Director Web interface.
6. Request access to the integrated management module.

IBM Systems Director communicates with the integrated management module


using SSL.

Discovering scalable systems that have multiple nodes


Scalable (multiple node) systems can be discovered by using out-of-band support
(OOB) or inband support. Follow the steps in the appropriate topic to discover
your scalable system that has multiple nodes.

Discovering a scalable BladeCenter system with multiple


nodes
Before you can use your BladeCenter system with multiple nodes, you need to
discover it by using out-of-band and in-band communication. A scalable system
with multiple nodes is called a complex. Follow these steps to discover the system.

Before you begin

Access the Advanced Management Module (AMM) web console and verify that
the system has been configured correctly.
1. From the AMM web console, go to Scalable Complex > Configuration.
2. Find the appropriate system in the “Assigned Nodes” section. The value for
Mode must be Partition.
3. Correct the configuration, if necessary.
1. Use out-of-band communication to discover the system.

Important: If you do not complete these steps, the complex is not created.
a. Discover the BladeCenter chassis by using the AMM IP address. On the
System Discovery page, select BladeCenter as the resource type. Do not
select All.
b. Request access to the BladeCenter you just discovered. When the access
state of nodes are changed to “OK”, discovery is complete.
c. Verify that the access state for the complex and partition is “OK”.
2. Use in-band communication to discover the system.

442 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Important: If you do not complete these steps, the operating system will not
work correctly.
a. Discover the IP address of operating system running on the partition on
which the platform agent is installed.
b. Request access to the managed resource on which the operating system is
installed.
3. Request access to the BladeCenter.

Discovering a scalable System x system


Before you can use your System x system with multiple nodes, you need to
discover it by using out-of-band and in-band communication. A scalable system
with multiple nodes is called a complex. Follow these steps to discover the system.

Before you begin

Access the Integrated Management Module (IMM) web console and verify that the
system has been configured correctly.
1. From the IMM web console go to Scalable Partitioning > Manage Partition(s).
2. Verify that these values are shown for the system:
Table 36. Values for a correctly configured system
System Partition Mode
Started Valid Multinode

3. Correct the configuration, if necessary.


1. Use out-of-band communication to discover the system.

Important: If you do not complete these steps, no relationship between the


node and partition is created.
a. Discover and request access to one node. The complex and partition are
created, but the access state of partition is “Partial access”.
b. Discover and request access to the other node. The access state of the
partition changes to “OK”.
2. Use in-band communication to discover the system.

Important: If you do not complete these steps, the operating system will not
work correctly.
a. Discover the IP address of operating system running on the partition on
which the platform agent is installed.
b. Request access to the managed resource on which the operating system is
installed.
3. Request access to the System x server.

Changing the password for the Remote Supervisor Adapter or


management module
You can change the password that you use to access a Remote Supervisor Adapter,
Remote Supervisor Adapter II, or management module.

Note: Integrated management module does not support password changing.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 443


You must have access to the system to change the password. For information about
requesting access to a system, see “Requesting access to a secured system.”

To change the password, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the system that contains the Remote Supervisor Adapter, Remote
Supervisor Adapter II, or management module on which you want to change
the password.
3. Select the system. To change the password, you must select the system resource
representation of type Server, not Operating System.
4. Click Actions > Change Password.
5. In the Change Password window, type your user name, the old password, the
new password, and then confirm the new password.
6. Click OK.

The password is changed and a confirmation message is displayed.

Managing power state settings on IBM BladeCenter and System x


servers
Support for the Power On/Off task is provided by System x service processors and
IBM BladeCenter management modules that can communicate out-of-band, and by
servers that have the Wake on LAN feature enabled. The available power settings
vary, depending on the feature that IBM Systems Director uses on the affected
system.
Related reference

rpower command

Power On/Off task support using out-of-band communication


These service processors support Power On/Off using out-of-band communication
on System x servers, including scalable servers.
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) baseboard management
controller (BMC)
v Integrated Management Module (iMM)

You can use the Power On/Off task to power on and power off scalable partitions
on scalable System x servers. Scalable partitions are systems that are the logical
equivalent of a physical platform. For example, when you choose to power on a
scalable partition, you do so through out-of-band communication with the service
processor in the primary node. Subsequently all the nodes (servers) that are part of
the scalable partition are powered on and the operating system is started on the
scalable partition. If Common Agent or Platform Agent is installed on the scalable
partition, it is started also.

Note: On scalable partitions, the service processors provide support for Power On,
Power Off Now, and Restart.

444 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 37. Service processor support for power settings
Service processor Power settings supported
Blade servers that have an IPMI baseboard Power On, Restart Now, and Power Off
management controller Now
Blade servers that have an H8 controller Power On and Power Off Now
IPMI baseboard management controllers in Power On, Restart Now, and Power Off
servers that are not blade servers Now
Remote Supervisor Adapter II IMM, Power On, Restart Now, and Power
Off Now
Remote Supervisor Adapter Power On, Restart Now, and Power Off
Now

For information about enabling out-of-band communication, see “Out-of-band


communication requirements.”

Power On/Off task support using Wake on LAN technology on


System x
Some System x servers provide support for the Power On/Off task using Wake on
LAN technology. Wake on LAN technology provides Power On only.

In order to use power management provided by Wake on LAN technology, the


following criteria must be met:
v The system must include a network interface card (NIC) that can use Wake on
LAN technology.
v The system must be running an operating system that supports the Wake on
LAN feature. Wake on LAN is supported on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of
Windows and Linux, but not by VMware ESX Server or Microsoft Virtual Server.
v The Wake on LAN feature must be enabled.
v IBM Systems Director Server must be able to detect the MAC address of the
managed system.
v The system data (including the MAC address) must be included in IBM Systems
Director inventory tables.

Note: The Wake on LAN Power On command does not report failure or success.
To determine whether this command worked, you must verify that the affected
system was powered on as expected.

Power On/Off task support by way of the operating system on


System x and blade servers
Support for the Power On/Off task can be provided by the operating system on
System x and blade servers. Either Platform Agent or Common Agent must be
installed on the system also.

See the following table for more information.


Table 38. Power-state-setting support by operating systems running on System x servers;
IBM and third-party x86-based systems
Operating system Power settings supported
1
Windows (32-bit and 64-bit versions) Restart and Shutdown

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 445


Table 38. Power-state-setting support by operating systems running on System x servers;
IBM and third-party x86-based systems (continued)
Operating system Power settings supported
1
Linux (32-bit and 64-bit versions) Restart
VMware GSX Server, versions 3.1 and 3.2, v (For Linux) Restart
guest operating systems v (For Windows) Restart and Shutdown
Microsoft Virtual Server (guest operating Restart and Shutdown
system)
If the server that the operating system runs on is also discovered and managed by OOB
means, the server's power tasks are mapped in the operating system's managed endpoint.
Therefore, more power tasks are supported for such operating systems.

Changing the power state on System x and IBM BladeCenter


hardware
Use the Power On/Off tasks to remotely restart, power on, power off, or shutdown
a server in your systems-management environment. The available power states
vary depending on the feature that IBM Systems Director uses on the affected
server. For more information, see “Power On/Off tasks support using out-of-band
communication” and “Power On/Off task support by way of the operating
system.”

You must have access to the system to change the power state. For information
about requesting access to a system, see “Requesting access to a secured system.”

To change the power state, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the system on which you want to change the power state.
3. View the Access column to make sure that you can access the system. If Access
is set to No Access, you must request access to the system.
4. Right-click the system and click Power On/Off. Then click the power state you
want to invoke. Depending on the feature that IBM Systems Director uses for
power management on the affected system, you can set the power to Power
On, Power Off, Restart, Restart Now, or Shutdown.
5. In the Run window, click OK to change the power state immediately. You also
can schedule this task to run at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”

Enabling collection of SNMP-based inventory by way of management


modules
In order to collect SNMP-based inventory in IBM Systems Director by way of the
IBM BladeCenter management module or advanced management module, you
must configure the management module SNMPv1 and SNMPv3 settings.

Note: Management modules and advanced management modules permits you to


enable SNMPv1, SNMPv3 or both. If both protocols are enabled, IBM Systems
Director uses SNMPv3 to establish the connection for inventory collection.

To collect SNMP-based inventory, use the following setting considerations when


configuring the management module SNMP settings. See “Configuring SNMP

446 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


options for an IBM BladeCenter management module” on page 465 for detailed
steps for configuring SNMPv1 and SNMPv3 settings.
Table 39. Setting considerations for configuring management modules for SNMP-based
inventory collection
Protocol Setting considerations
SNMPv1 The trap destination must be specified as one of the following settings:
v The IP address of the system running IBM Systems Director Server.
v The IP address 0.0.0.0.

The Access type must be set to Get (or greater). This setting permits SNMP
access to the management module for the applicable trap destination:
v IBM Systems Director Server
v All incoming IP addresses with the correct community string
SNMPv3 v Management module firmware, version 3.5 or later, does not permit retrieval
of the Privacy protocol and Privacy password settings. To ensure SNMP
access, you can either:
– Use the Configure Access task to configure the SNMPv3 credentials.
– Leave these settings blank.
v Any IP address can be specified as a trap destination in the SNMPv3
configuration.

Using hardware-log information from System x service processors and


IBM BladeCenter products
System x service processors and IBM BladeCenter management modules and
service processors provide hardware logs. The log contains information that you or
IBM service representatives can use to solve system hardware problems. This
information can include the source of hardware-related events, severity, date and
time, and text descriptions of the log entries. You can view and clear hardware-log
information using the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

Hardware-log information using out-of-band and in-band


communication
Hardware-log information is provided using in-band communication or
out-of-band communication, depending on your system hardware and
configuration.

You can access hardware logs from the following service processors and
management modules:
v Intelligent Peripheral Management Interface (IPMI) baseboard management
controller (BMC)
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Management module
v Integrated management module
v Advanced management module
The following table details the available hardware-log access paths for the service
processors and management modules.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 447


Table 40. Available hardware-log access paths
Service processor Hardware-log access path
Management module Out-of-band communication directly with the management module or
Advanced management module advanced management module
Service processor in the blade server v Out-of-band communication with the service processor using the
management module or advanced management module
v In-band communication with the service processor using Common Agent
or Platform Agent installed on the blade server
Service processor in a System x server v Out-of-band communication directly with the service processor
v In-band communication with the service processor using Common Agent
or Platform Agent installed on the server

For information about enabling in-band communication, see “In-band


communication requirements.” For information about enabling out-of-band
communication, see “Out-of-band communication requirements.”

Viewing hardware-log information


The Hardware Log page displays information generated by service processors in
System x servers and by management modules and service processors in
BladeCenter products. The log contains information that you or IBM service
representatives can use to solve system hardware problems. This information can
include the source of hardware-related events, severity, date and time, and text
descriptions of the log entries.

To view hardware-log information using in-band communication, the system must


be online and you must have access. If you are using out-of-band communication,
hardware logs can be obtained from System x servers even when powered off. To
do so, the service processor must be online and you must have access.

To view hardware-log information, complete the following steps:


1. Navigate to the system that you want to view.
2. Select the applicable system resource.

Option Description
For in-band communication Select the system.
For out-of-band communication with a Click the system to view its components.
system Select the service processor.
For out-of-band communication with a Select the chassis.
BladeCenter chassis

3. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Hardware Log.

Notes:
v For log entries retrieved from Intelligent Peripheral Management Interface
(IPMI) baseboard management controllers (BMC), the value reported in the
Severity column is always Information because the BMC does not provide this
information.
v The format of the hardware log text can vary depending on the type of service
processor and whether the information was received using in-band or
out-of-band communication.

448 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v If the hardware-log information cannot be retrieved using in-band
communication, the task will attempt out-of-band communication with the
system service processor to retrieve the hardware-log information.

On the Hardware Log page, you can view and work with the information in the
following ways:
v Filter the information. For more information, see “Filtering table information.”
v Sort the information. For more information, see “Sorting table information.”
v Export the information. For more information, see “Exporting table information.”

Refreshing hardware-log information


If some time has passed since you opened the Hardware Log page, you can refresh
the hardware-log information that is displayed on the page. Doing so will display
any log entries that have occurred since you opened the page or last refreshed the
page.

To view hardware-log information, the system must be online and you must have
access.

To refresh the hardware-log information, on the Hardware Log page, click Refresh.

Clearing the hardware-log information


A system might experience problems when the hardware log grows large. You can
clear the hardware-log information on the Remote Supervisor Adapter or
management module and therefore from the Hardware Log page. However,
because the hardware log might not be the source of the server problems, make
sure that you save the hardware-log information before you clear the hardware log.
You subsequently might need the log to solve the server problems.

Hardware log limitations vary depending on the service processor:


Remote Supervisor Adapter and Remote Supervisor Adapter II
The hardware log has a size limit. When the log is full, the entries wrap
rather than overflow.
IPMI baseboard management controller
The hardware log has a size limit. When the log is full, it no longer accepts
entries. If Common Agent or Platform Agent is installed on the affected
system, the log is erased automatically when it is full.

The service processor or management module generates a warning event when the
hardware log is almost full.
v For the Remote Supervisor Adapter and Remote Supervisor Adapter II, the event
is generated when the hardware log is 75% full.
v For the Intelligent Peripheral Management Interface (IPMI) baseboard
management controller (BMC), the threshold is programmed in the firmware
and can vary from BMC to BMC. Typically, the IBM BMC uses the following
values:
– 75% full generates a warning event
– 90% full generates a critical event
– 100% full generates an overflow event

To clear the hardware-log information, the system must be online and you must
have access.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 449


Attention: Before you clear the hardware-log information, export the
hardware-log information so you can refer to it later or provide it to IBM service
representatives if necessary. For information about exporting, see “Exporting table
information.”

To clear the hardware-log information, complete the following steps:


1. On the Hardware Log page, click Clear.
2. In the confirmation window, click OK to confirm the request. The hardware-log
information is cleared from the table and from the service processor or
management module.

Providing hardware-log information


The hardware log contains information that you or IBM service representatives can
use to solve system hardware problems. When you prepare to contact IBM, make
sure that you save the hardware-log information to a file so you can send the file
to IBM.

To save hardware-log information, the system must be online and you must have
access.

Note: Be sure the Web browser option to block pop-up windows is turned off for
the URL that you use to log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

To save hardware-log information, complete the following steps:


1. Navigate to the system that is experiencing problems.
2. Select the applicable system resource.

Option Description
For in-band communication Select the system.
For out-of-band communication with a Click the system to view its components.
system Select the service processor.
For out-of-band communication with a Select the chassis.
BladeCenter chassis

3. Click Actions > System Status and Health > Hardware Log.
4. On the Hardware Log page, click Actions > Export.
5. In the file download window for your Web browser, click Save to Disk and
then click OK.
6. If your Web browser requires a location selection, provide it and click Save.

The data is exported and a CSV file is saved in the location that you provided.

Using locator LED settings on IBM BladeCenter and System x servers


System x servers and BladeCenter products provide a hardware feature called the
locator LED. Use the locator LED to identify one server within a rack of servers or
other large group of servers, or one blade server within a chassis. You also can use
the locator LED to identify a server for a service representative when you are
viewing the server remotely in your systems-management environment. You can
change the locator-LED settings using the IBM Systems Director Web interface.

450 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Locator LEDs and out-of-band and in-band communication
System x servers and BladeCenter products provide a hardware feature called the
locator LED. Support is provided using either out-of-band and in-band
communication.

Support for changing the locator-LED setting is provided by the following System
x and BladeCenter hardware:
v Intelligent Peripheral Management Interface (IPMI) baseboard management
controller (BMC)

Note: Not all BMCs support the locator LED. If it is not supported, the locator
LED settings are not displayed when you right-click the system and click
System Identification.
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Remote I/O enclosure
v Management module
v Integrated management module
v Advanced management module
Support is available for both in-band communication and out-of-band
communication. For information about enabling in-band communication, see
“In-band communication requirements.” For information about enabling
out-of-band communication, see “Out-of-band communication requirements.”

Identifying hardware with the locator LED


Use the locator LED to identify one server within a rack of servers or other large
group of servers, or one blade server within a chassis. You also can use the locator
LED to identify a server for a service representative when you are viewing the
server remotely in your systems-management environment. You can turn the
locator LED on or off or set it to flash.

You must have access to the system to change the locator-LED setting. For
information about requesting access to a system, see “Requesting access to a
secured system.”

To set the locator LED to flash, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the system on which you want to change the locator-LED setting.
3. View the Access column to make sure that you can access the system. If Access
is set to None, you must request access to the system.
4. Right-click the system and click System Status and Health > System
Identification > LED Flash. You also can select LED On to identify the system.
5. In the Scheduler window, click OK to flash the locator LED immediately. You
also can schedule this task to run at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 451


Solving hardware problems using light-path-diagnostic LEDs on IBM
BladeCenter and System x servers
System x servers and BladeCenter products provide a hardware feature called the
light-path-diagnostic LED. These LEDs are located on the front of System x servers,
on the server rear panel, on light path adapters, on field replaceable units (FRUs),
on planars, on BladeCenter chassis, and on blade servers. A server or chassis can
have LEDs associated with the processor, memory, power supply, fan, and more.
Each LED can indicate whether its associated component is having problems or
has failed. For information about what light-path-diagnostics LEDs are available on
your System x or BladeCenter hardware, see the hardware documentation. You can
view the light-path-diagnostic LED settings using the IBM Systems Director Web
interface.

Light-path-diagnostic LED information


Light-path-diagnostic LED information consists of the LED name and severity, its
state, color, and location. For information about what light-path-diagnostics LEDs
are available on your System x or BladeCenter hardware, see the hardware
documentation. Or, to list all available light-path-diagnostics LEDs and more, see
“Status commands.”

The light-path-diagnostic LED name is returned by the resource, such as a


management module or a service processor. If the resource cannot provide the
light-path-diagnostic LED name, the name is determined by the
light-path-diagnostic LED task. When the LED state is On, a specific severity is
indicated; however, this severity varies by LED name.
Table 41. LED name and associated severity
LED name Severity
Activity OK
Battery Critical
BMC Heartbeat OK
Channel x Critical

where x indicates a letter from A to H.


CPU Critical
CPU x Critical

where x indicates a number from 1 to 8.


CPU mismatch Critical
DASD Critical
DASD x Critical

where x indicates a number from 1 to 2.


DIMM Critical
DIMM x Critical

where x indicates a number from 1 to 16.


Diagnostic card Critical
Fan Critical

452 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 41. LED name and associated severity (continued)
LED name Severity
Fan x Critical

where x indicates a number from 1 to 16.


Fault Critical
Identification Informational
Info Informational
Log Critical
NMI Informational
Non-optimal Informational
Non-redundant Critical
Over spec Critical
Over temp Critical
PCI Critical
PCI x Critical

where x indicates a number from 1 to 5.


Planar Fault Critical
POST OK Informational
Power OK
PS Critical
PS x Critical

where x indicates a number from 1 to 4.


RAID Critical
Riser1 Missing Informational
Riser2 Missing Informational
SAS Error Critical
SAS Missing1 Informational
Scaling Port x Informational

where x indicates a number from 0 to 7.


Scaling Informational
Select CD OK
Select KVM OK
Service Processor Critical
Sleep OK
VRM Critical
VRM x Critical

where x indicates a number from 1 to 8.

LEDs can have the following states:


v Flashing
v On

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 453


v Off
The Flashing and On states indicate the severity associated with the LED (see
Table 41 on page 452).

LEDs can have the following colors:


v Red
v Orange
v Yellow
v Green
v Blue
v Unknown

LEDs can be located in the following places:


v Front panel
v Light path card
v Planar
v FRU (field replaceable unit)
v Rear panel
v Unknown
Related reference

Status commands

lsled command

chled command (Setting light-path-diagnostic LED settings)

Viewing light-path-diagnostics status


You can view light-path-diagnostics status information to determine whether any
light-path diagnostic LEDs are reporting information.

To view light-path-diagnostics status information, the table must include the


column that displays light-path-diagnostics status. For information about selecting
the LED Status column for inclusion in the table, see “Setting table-column
preferences.”

To view the light-path-diagnostics status, complete the following steps:


1. Navigate to your system in Navigate Resources, System Status and Health, or
any other task with a table that displays these systems.
2. View the LED Status column. The available LED statuses are:
Critical
Indicates that the light-path-diagnostics LED for a device in critical
state is turned on.
Information
Indicates that there is a non-critical state that might need attention.
OK Indicates that the light-path-diagnostics LEDs are turned off.
Unknown
Indicates that there is a problem communicating with the resource to
obtain the LED state. If the resource does not support
light-path-diagnostics LEDs or if the state of the resource is such that
the LED state is unavailable, for example, No Access, the LED Status is
set to OK.
3. If the LED status is underlined, detailed light-path-diagnostics information is
available. Click the LED status to view this information.

454 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Viewing detailed light-path-diagnostics information
You can view detailed light-path-diagnostics information to determine whether any
light-path diagnostic LEDs are reporting information.

To view light-path-diagnostics status information, the table must include the


column that displays light-path-diagnostics status. For information about selecting
the LED Status column for inclusion in the table, see “Setting table-column
preferences.”

To view detailed light-path-diagnostics information, complete the following steps:


1. Navigate to your system in Navigate Resources, System Status and Health, or
any other task with a table that displays these systems.
2. Select a system and click Actions > System Status and Health > Lightpath.

Note: If the selected resource does not support light-path-diagnostic LEDs or


there is a problem communicating with the resource to obtain the LED state,
the Light-path-diagnostic LEDs task is not displayed.
Any light-path-diagnostic LEDs associated with the selected resource are
displayed in the Light Path Diagnostic Detailed Information window.
3. For any LED with an LED state of On, resolve the hardware problem indicated
by the LED.
4. In the Light Path Diagnostic Detailed Information window, click Verify LED
Status. The detailed light-path-diagnostics information for the selected LED is
refreshed. If updated information is not displayed, the LED information
currently is not available for the resource. This might indicate any of the
following problems:
v A network connection error between the management server and the affected
resource
v A failure with the agent, Common Agent or Platform Agent, installed on the
resource
v A failure with IBM Systems Director Server

Changing the resource for viewing light-path-diagnostics LED


information
You can change the resource for which you want to view detailed
light-path-diagnostics information.

To change the system, complete the following steps in the Light Path Diagnostic
Detailed Information window:
1. Above the table, select a resource from the list. You can select a recently viewed
resource from the list or you can click Browse to navigate to and select another
resource.
2. Click Verify LED Status. The LED information for the selected resource is
displayed.

Configuring templates
You can configure templates for use in the Configuration Manager task. These
templates can configure IBM BladeCenter products and System x servers.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 455


Password security levels for IBM BladeCenter management
modules and System x service processors
The available security levels, or password policies, are legacy, predefined high
security, or custom security. The chosen security level applies to all users logging
into the management module or service processor; you cannot specify different
security levels for individual users. Security-level settings can include expiration
date, retry count, password reuse settings, and more.

IBM Systems Director provides two predefined levels for password security:
Legacy and High. If neither of these levels meets your needs, you can define a
custom security level. For more information, see “Configuring security levels for an
IBM BladeCenter management module” and “Configuring security levels for a
System x service processor.”
Legacy Security Settings
Provides the lowest level of security:
v Login profiles can have blank passwords.
v Passwords do not expire.
v Users can reuse the same password.
v There is no limitation on the frequency of password change.
v Non-supervisor login profiles are locked for 2 minutes after 5 sequential
failed-login attempts.
v If a non-blank password is used, it must be at least 5 characters long
and contain at least one numeric character.
v No alerts are generated and no profiles are disabled due to inactivity.
High Security Settings
Provides the highest level of security:
v Blank passwords cannot be used for any login profile.
v The factory-default USERID account-password must be changed
immediately upon the next login.
v The password for any new login profile or a profile that has had its
passwords changed by another authorized user must be changed upon
first access.
v The password for each user expires after 90 days.
v The value of a password must be changed at least 5 times before the
same password value can be reused.
v A user must wait at least 24 hours before changing password again.
v Non-supervisor profiles are locked for 60 minutes after 5 sequential
failed-login attempts.
v New passwords must conform to the following rules and have at least 2
characters that are different from the previous password:
– Passwords must be a minimum of 8 characters long.
– Passwords must not be a repeat or reverse of the associated user ID.
– Passwords must use no more than 3 of the same character used
consecutively.
– Passwords must contain at least three of the following combinations:
- Alphabetic characters (At least one, lowercase alphabetic character)
- Alphabetic characters (At least one, upper-case alphabetic character)
- Numeric characters (At least one numeric character)

456 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


- Special characters (At least one special character)
v An alert is generated and the login profile is marked dormant when the
profile has been inactive for 120 days.
v Non-supervisor profiles are disabled after 180 days of inactivity.

Security settings available for IBM BladeCenter management


modules

The Legacy Security Settings and High Security Settings are described in the
following table.

Security fields Legacy Security Settings High Security Settings


User login password Disabled Enabled
required
Password expiration period 0 (no expiration) 90 days
Minimum password reuse Disabled 5
cycle
Maximum number of login 5 5
failures
Lockout period after 2 minutes 60 minutes
maximum login failures
Complex password rules Disabled Enabled
Minimum number of Not set 2
different characters in a
password
Default-account-password Disabled Enabled
expiration on first access
Require the user to change Disabled Enabled
the password on first access
Inactivity alert period 0 (disabled) 120 days
Inactivity alert and 0 (disabled) 180 days
deactivate period

Security settings available for System x service processors

The Legacy Security Settings and High Security Settings are described in the
following table.

Security fields Legacy Security Settings High Security Settings


User login password Disabled Enabled
required
Password expiration period 0 (no expiration) 90 days
Minimum-password-reuse Disabled 5
cycle
Maximum number of login 5 5
failures
Default-account-password Disabled Enabled
expiration on first access

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 457


Configuring the boot sequence for a blade server in an IBM
BladeCenter chassis
You can configure the boot sequence for the blade servers and associated boot
devices in an IBM BladeCenter chassis. Each blade server can have a different boot
sequence.

The boot sequence is the order of devices that will be brought up during the boot
of a blade server in an IBM BladeCenter chassis. You can specify a boot sequence
of as many as four devices, but no one device can be listed in the sequence more
than once. The default boot sequence is Network, CD-ROM, Diskette, and Hard Disk
Drive 0. The No Device setting must be at the end of the sequence, for example,
CD-ROM, Diskette, Hard Disk Drive 1, No Device.

You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include management
modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided by these
templates might be made by way of the management module, but actually might
affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components.

To configure the boot sequence for a blade server within a chassis, complete the
following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Boot Sequence
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Blade Server Boot Sequence Configuration page is
displayed.
9. Click Create. The Blade Server Boot Sequence Configuration - Create window
is displayed.
10. In the Bay number field, select the bay number that corresponds to the blade
server for which you want to configure the boot sequence.

Note: If you select All, then all blade servers are configured with same boot
sequence order.
11. Select the first device in the Device 1 field.
12. Select the second device in the Device 2 field, and so forth for the third device
and the fourth device.
13. Click OK. Your changes for the selected bay are recorded on the Blade Server
Boot Sequence Configuration page.
14. Select the new configuration in the table.
15. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

458 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
16. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring an IBM BladeCenter management module


Configuring the IBM BladeCenter management module or advanced management
module consists of providing configuration information for these areas:
management module networks, management module login, and management
module alerts.

Configuring login information for an IBM BladeCenter


management module
You can create a new user account to log into a management module. This user
account can be used to access the management module by different programs
across different interfaces, including the management module Web interface and
command-line interface, UpdateXpress, and more. You also can edit and delete the
user accounts.

Note: You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include
management modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided
by these templates might be made by way of the management module, but
actually might affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All
settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

Creating a new account for the IBM BladeCenter management module:

To create a new account for a user of the management module, you must supply a
user name, password, and access type.

To create a new account of a user of the management module, complete the


following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Login Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Login Configuration page is
displayed.
9. Click Create Task. The Create Management Module Login window is
displayed.
10. In the Select a task list, select Create New Account.
11. If you do want to define user-account information, you can choose to click
Use an account configuration provided by a user-authentication template to
select previously created user-account information from a user-authentication
template. Then, go to step 16 on page 460.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 459


12. Otherwise, to specify the user-account information, click Use the specified
account configuration.
13. In the User name field, type the unique user name for the account.
14. In the Password field, type the password for the account. The password must
meet the following criteria:
v Alphanumeric characters only
v 5 - 15 characters
v At least 1 alphabetic character
v At least 1 numeric character
15. In the Confirmation password field, type the password again for the account.
If the passwords do not match, an error message is displayed.
16. In the User access list, select the user access permission for the account:
Administrator
The user is to have full administrator access to the management
module.
Read-only
The user cannot change any information on the management module.
17. Click OK. The Management Module Login Configuration page is displayed
with the new task.

Important: You must complete the following steps in this procedure or the
task will not run.
18. Select the tasks (including the task that you just created) that you want to run.
19. If you want the management module clock set to the same time as the
management server, select Set to the local time used by IBM Systems
Director Server.
20. To run the selected tasks and save the changes into the configuration template,
click Save. If you are updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
21. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Modifying an existing account for the IBM BladeCenter management module:

For an existing user of the management module, you can modify the password or
access type.

To modify an existing account for a user of the management module, complete the
following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Login Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Type a description in the Configuration template description field.

460 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


7. If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically deploy
this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Login Configuration page is
displayed.
9. Click Create Task. The Create Management Module Login window is
displayed.
10. In the Select a task list, select Modify Existing Account.
11. To select previously created user-account information from a
user-authentication template, click Use an account configuration provided by
a user-authentication template and go to step 15. Otherwise, click Use the
specified account configuration.
12. Type the user name of the account to be modified.
13. If you are changing the password, type the new password to assign to this
user in the Password field. The password must meet the following criteria:
v Alphanumeric characters only
v 5 - 15 characters
v At least 1 alphabetic character
v At least 1 numeric character
14. If you are changing the password, type the new password in the Confirm
password field. If the passwords do not match, an error message is displayed.
15. If you are changing the user access type, select one of the following values:
Administrator
The user is to have full administrator access to the management
module.
Read-only
The user cannot change any information on the management module.
16. Click OK. The Management Module Login Configuration page is displayed
with the new task.

Important: You must complete the following steps in this procedure or the
task will not run.
17. Select the tasks (including the task that you just created) that you want to run.
18. To run the selected tasks and save the changes into the configuration template,
click Save. If you are updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
19. To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Deleting an account for a IBM BladeCenter management module:

Delete accounts for the management module when they are no longer needed.

To delete an account for a user of the management module, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 461


4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Login Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically deploy
this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Login Configuration page is
displayed.
9. Click Create Task. The Create Management Module Login window is
displayed.
10. In the Select a task list, select Delete Account.
11. To select previously created user-account information from a
user-authentication template, click Use an account configuration provided by
a user-authentication template and go to step 13. Otherwise, click Use the
specified account configuration.
12. Type the user name of the account to be deleted.
13. Click OK. The Management Module Login Configuration page is displayed
with the new task.

Important: You must complete the following steps in this procedure or the
task will not run.
14. Select the tasks (including the task that you just created) that you want to run.
15. To run the selected tasks and save the changes into the configuration template,
click Save. If you are updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
16. To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring security levels for an IBM BladeCenter management


module
Configure security levels for a management module in order to control access to
the management module by users of IBM Systems Director. The available security
levels, or password policies, are legacy, predefined high security, or custom
security. The chosen security level applies to all users logging into the management
module or service processor; you cannot specify different security levels for
individual users. Security-level settings can include expiration date, retry count,
password reuse settings, and more.

Note: You can use this template for BladeCenter installations that include
advanced management modules only. Although some settings are supported by
firmware version BPET26B or later, to have support for all the settings in this
template, you must install firmware version BPET32D or later.

To specify the security level for a management module, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.

462 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Security Level Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Security Level Configuration page
is displayed.
9. In the Security level list, select a security level. For detailed information about
the password security levels, see “Password security levels for IBM
BladeCenter management modules and System x service processors.”
10. If you did not select Custom, click Save and do not complete any of the
remaining steps.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
11. In the User login password required list, specify whether you want to require
passwords when users log in to the management module or service processor:
nothing selected
No selection has been made. If you save with this selection, the User
login password required property is not applied.
Activated
A password is required for user login.
Deactivated
A password is not required for user login.
12. Type the password expiration period, in days. Valid values are 0 - 365, where
0 indicates a password that will never expire.
13. Optional: Select the minimum password reuse cycle. Valid values are 1 - 5.
This field indicates the number of unique passwords that must be used before
a previously used password can be repeated. To indicate that there is no
password reuse cycle, select Disabled.
14. Optional: Select the complex password rules:
nothing selected
No selection has been made. If you save with this selection, the
Complex password rules property is not applied.
Activated
Performs checking to reject trivial passwords.
Deactivated
Does not perform checking to reject trivial passwords.
15. Optional: Select the minimum different characters in the password. This
option is disabled until the Complex password rules option is enabled and
the Minimum password reuse cycle has a value other than 0. Valid values are
between 1 and 15. It is the number of characters in the password that are not
the same. For example, a password of AAAAAA has zero different characters.
Select Disabled to indicate that there is no minimum different characters
requirement.
16. Optional: Select the maximum number of login failures. The number of times
that a user can attempt to log in with an incorrect password before the
account is locked for security reasons. Specify a number between 1 - 10. Select

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 463


Disabled to indicate that the account will not be locked out regardless of the
number of unsuccessful login attempts that are made. The default value is 5.
17. Type a value for the lockout period after the maximum number of login
failures. The value is the period of time in minutes that the account is locked
after the maximum number of login failures has been reached. Valid values
are numbers between 0 - 2880 (48 hours).
18. Optional: Select a setting to indicate whether the default account password
expires on the first access. The default account is the account with a user
named USERID.
nothing selected
No selection has been made. If you save with this selection, the
Default-account-password expiration on first access property is not
applied.
Activated
The user is required to change the password of USERID at the time of
the first login.
Deactivated
The user is not required to change the password of USERID at the
time of the first login.
19. Optional: Select a setting to indicate whether the user will be forced to change
the password at the time of the first access:
nothing selected
No selection has been made. If you save with this selection, the
Require the user to change the password on first access property is
not be applied.
Activated
The user is required to change the password on the first login.
Deactivated
The user is not required to change the password on the first login.
20. Type a value for the inactivity alert period. If a user does not log in within the
specified number of days, an alert is sent to SNMP, e-mail, or the system
recipient. Valid values are numbers between 0 - 365. Setting this value to 0
disables inactivity alert checking.
21. Type a value for the inactivity alert and deactivate period. If an account has
no login by a user within the specified number of days, an alert is sent to
SNMP, e-mail, or the system recipient and the account is deactivated. Valid
values are numbers between 0 - 365. Setting this value to 0 disables inactivity
alert and deactivation.
22. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
23. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring the network IP for an IBM BladeCenter management


module
This template configures the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and
static IP addresses used to access the IBM BladeCenter management module.

464 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include
management modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided
by these templates might be made by way of the management module, but
actually might affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All
settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To specify the network IP for an IBM BladeCenter management module, complete


the following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Network IP Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Network IP Configuration page is
displayed with these tabbed pages: IPv4 Configuration, IPv6 Configuration,
and DNS Configuration.
9. Specify the values on the appropriate pages.
10. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.
Attention: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
11. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring SNMP options for an IBM BladeCenter management


module
Configure options used by IBM Systems Director so that Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) v1 and v3 can be used to access the management
module.

Note: You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include
management modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided
by these templates might be made by way of the management module, but
actually might affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All
settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To specify the SNMPv1 and SNMPv3 protocols for the management module,
complete the following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Network SNMP Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 465


6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module SNMP Configuration page is
displayed.
9. Optional: Specify additional SNMP settings.

Option Description
SNMPv1 settings See “Specifying SNMPv1 options for an IBM
BladeCenter management module”
SNMPv3 settings See “Specifying SNMPv3 options for an IBM
BladeCenter management module”

Specifying SNMPv1 options for an IBM BladeCenter management module:

Configure the options used by IBM Systems Director to access the management
module using the SNMPv1 protocol.

To specify the SNMPv1 protocol for a management module, complete the following
steps:
1. If you have not already done so, click the SNMPv1 tab on the Management
Module SNMP Configuration page. A table of SNMP communities is
displayed.
2. Select an SNMPv1 agent state:
nothing-selected
Nothing is configured if this field is left blank.
Activated
The SNMP agent is active.
Deactivated
The SNMP agent is not active.
3. In the Trap state list, select a status:
nothing-selected
Nothing is configured if this field is left blank.
Activated
SNMP agents can asynchronously provide important but unsolicited
information, such as extraordinary events.
Deactivated
The trap state is not being used. This setting is the default.
4. In the Contact information field, type the name of a person responsible for
the management module. This field accepts any ASCII words, such as a name,
e-mail address, and so forth.
5. In the Location field, type a description of the physical location of the
management module. This field accepts any ASCII words, such as a building
name or number, floor, column, geographic region, city, country, and so forth.
6. In the Community table, click Create. The Create New Community window is
displayed.
7. Select a community index. Valid values are 1, 2, or 3.
8. Select the access type:

466 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Get All hosts in the community can receive traps and query Management
Information Base (MIB) objects. This value is the default.
Set All hosts in the community can receive traps, and query and set MIB
objects.
Trap All hosts in the community can receive traps.
9. Type a unique community name in the Community name field.
10. Type the value for the trap IP address or host name 1.
11. Type the value for the trap IP address or host name 2.
12. Type the value for the trap IP address or host name 3.
13. Click OK to record the changes in the SNMP communities table.
14. In the table, select the community that you created.
15. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
16. If you want to specify SNMPv3 settings, see “Specifying SNMPv3 options for
an IBM BladeCenter management module” for the applicable steps.
17. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Specifying SNMPv3 options for an IBM BladeCenter management module:

Configure the options used by IBM Systems Director to access the management
modules using the SNMPv3 protocol.

To specify the SNMPv3 protocol for a management module, complete the following
steps:
1. If you have not already done so, click the SNMPv3 tab on the Management
Module SNMP Configuration page.
2. Select an SNMPv3 agent state:
nothing-selected
Nothing is configured if this field is left blank.
Activated
The SNMP agent is active.
Deactivated
The SNMP agent is not active.
3. Select the trap state:
nothing-selected
Nothing is configured if this field is left blank.
Activated
SNMP agents can asynchronously provide important but unsolicited
information, such as extraordinary events.
Deactivated
The trap state is not being used. This setting is the default.
4. Type a unique user ID in the User ID field. This user ID is one of the 12 user
IDs that the management module supports regardless of protocol and is
usable for non-SNMP access as well.
5. Select the access type:
Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 467
Get All hosts in the community can receive traps and query Management
Information Base (MIB) objects. This value is the default.
Set All hosts in the community can receive traps, and query and set MIB
objects.
Trap All hosts in the community can receive traps.
6. Type a unique profile name in the Profile name field.
7. In the Authentication settings area, complete the following steps:
a. Select the protocol. The following choices are valid:
None No encryption.
MD5 A type of message algorithm that converts a message of arbitrary
length into a 128-bit message digest. This algorithm is used for
digital signature applications where a large message must be
compressed in a secure manner.
SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm) An encryption method in which data is
encrypted in a way that is mathematically impossible to reverse.
Different data can possibly produce the same hash value, but there
is no way to use the hash value to determine the original data.
b. Type the password for the user in the Password field. The user ID and
password directly correspond to the user ID and password for non-SNMP
management module access. There is a maximum of 12 user accounts, and
those user accounts are used for SNMPv1 as well as for other access (for
example, Web access).
c. Type the same password in the Confirmation password field.
8. In the Privacy settings area, complete the following steps:
a. Select the protocol. Valid choices are none and DES (Date Encryption
standard).
b. Type the password for the user in the Password field.
c. Type the same password in the Confirmation password field.
9. Type the value for the trap IP address or host name.
10. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
11. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring ports for an IBM BladeCenter management module


Use this task to configure the port numbers used to access the management
module with various network services.

You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include management
modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided by these
templates might be made by way of the management module, but actually might
affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components. While management modules and
advanced management modules support a number of ports, they support the
configuration of only some of these ports.

468 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 42. Ports supported for configuration
Management
Port module Advanced management module
FTP No Yes
FTP data No Yes
HTTP Yes Yes
HTTPS Yes Yes
Remote disk No Yes (firmware version BPET36M and earlier)

No (firmware version BPET42D and later)


Remote disk-on-card No Yes (firmware version BPET36M and earlier)

No (firmware version BPET42D and later)


Remote KVM No Yes (firmware version BPET36M and earlier)

No (firmware version BPET42D and later)


Remote presence No Yes (firmware version BPET42D or later)
Secure SMASH CLP No Yes
Secure TCP command mode No Yes (firmware version BPET46C and later)

No (firmware versions earlier than BPET46C)


SLP No Yes
SMASH CLP No Yes
SNMP agent Yes Yes
SNMP traps Yes Yes
SSH Yes Yes
Storage description service No Yes (firmware version BPET36M and earlier)

No (firmware version BPET42D and later)


TCP command mode No Yes
Telnet Yes Yes
TFTP No Yes

Note: When this page is displayed for the first time, the default port numbers that
shipped with IBM Systems Director for each network service are displayed.

To change the port numbers for a management module, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Ports Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 469


7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Ports Configuration page is
displayed. On this page, the current port number for each network service is
displayed.
9. Make changes to these values as necessary. Valid port numbers are between 1
- 65535.
10. Optional: Click Restore Defaults to reset this page to the default values that
were shipped with IBM Systems Director.
11. Optional: Click Reset to remove any changes that you have made and restore
this page to the values it had the last time that Save was clicked or to the
default values if Save has never been clicked on this page.
12. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.
13. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring alert settings and alert recipients


You can configure alert settings and indicate the people that receive the alert for an
IBM BladeCenter advanced management module and management module. These
settings determine that only the alerts that are important to your installation cause
notification to be sent to the alert recipient.

Alert settings and recipients for an IBM BladeCenter management module:

When an IBM BladeCenter management module detects a situation that is a


problem or might require attention, an alert is produced. An alert is a message or
other indication that signals an event or an impending event.

Alert notification is the process of sending information about the alert to an alert
recipient.

An alert recipient is a person or other target that is notified when an alert in a


category that has alert-notification enabled occurs. Alert recipient information
includes the target name, whether the recipient is to receive all alerts or only
critical alerts, and what notification mechanism to use.

Each type of alert has associated alert settings. Alert settings specify whether a
particular category of alert causes alert notifications to be sent to the alert
recipients and also other details about the alerts in the category. The other details
about the alerts for an IBM BladeCenter management module include retry limit,
delay time between retries, and whether to include a log file with the alert.

When an alert in a category that has alert notification enabled occurs, the alert
recipients are notified. Selecting the IBM Systems Director Comprehensive
notification type causes the enabled or disabled alert notification setting to be
ignored and everything to be sent to a specified recipient. In order for this process
to work, you must configure both alert recipients and alert settings.

If an alert recipient is to receive notification using e-mail, the event log can be
included. This feature is not available for alert recipients who receive notification
through other means.

For an IBM BladeCenter advanced management module with firmware version


BPET32D or later, legacy monitored-alert settings are used, which are similar to those
of the IBM BladeCenter management module.

470 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


For an IBM BladeCenter advanced management module with firmware version
BPET32D or later, enhanced monitored-alert settings are used, which include alerts for
additional situations and potential problems.

Alert settings can be configured in two ways:


Updating a configuration in real time
Alert settings are applied to the target device. When the alert settings are
displayed, the device is queried for the existing values. To apply these
changes to the target device, click Deploy.
Updating a configuration using a configuration template
Alert settings are applied to the configuration template for the target
device. When the alert settings are displayed, the values in the
configuration template are displayed. Click Save to save these changes to
the configuration template.
To apply the changes to the target device, first select the existing profile in
the configuration template and then select the related target device to
apply.

Alerts are classified according to severity:


Critical alerts
Alerts about situations or problems that are of a critical nature, such as
temperature that is too high.
Warning alerts
Alerts about situations or problems that are not as severe as critical alerts,
such as a log file running out of space.
System alerts
Alerts about situations or problems that affect only one system, or are not
problems at all but are notifications of routine events, such as remote login.

Configuring alert settings for an IBM BladeCenter management module:

Configure alert settings for an IBM BladeCenter management module so that only
the alerts that are important to your installation cause notification to be sent to the
alert recipient. These alert settings apply to all alert recipients. You cannot specify
different settings for individual alert recipients.

You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include management
modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided by these
templates might be made by way of the management module, but actually might
affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components.

Note: Enhanced monitored-alert settings are supported only by advanced


management modules with firmware version BPET32D or later. Legacy
monitored-alert settings are supported by advanced management modules with
firmware versions earlier than BPET32D and by management modules.

To specify alert settings, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 471


3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Alert Settings.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Alert Settings page is displayed.
9. In the Remote-alert-retry limit list, select the number of times to permit
retrying a remote alert. If an alert notification is sent and it does not reach its
recipient, the alert notification will be sent again this number of times. Valid
values are 0 - 8. A value of 0 indicates that the remote alert will not be sent
again. This value applies only to e-mail and IBM Systems Director alerts.
SNMP alerts are attempted only once.
10. In the Delay between retries list, select a value in minutes for the delay time
between retries. If an alert notification is sent and it does not reach its
recipient, the alert notification will be sent again after this number of minutes
has elapsed until it has been retried the number of times specified in the
Remote-alert-retry limit list. Valid values are between 0.5 - 4.0, in half minute
intervals. The default is 0.5 minutes.
11. If you want the event log of the failing system sent with alert notification
when the alert recipient is using e-mail, select Include the event log with
e-mail alerts. Event logs cannot be sent to an alert recipient who uses any
notification mechanism other than e-mail.
12. If you are running in offline mode, select the type of monitored-alert settings:
Enhanced monitored-alert settings
Specifies an advanced management module with firmware version
BPET32D or later.
Legacy monitored-alert settings
Specifies an advanced management module with a firmware version
earlier than BPET32D or a management module.

If you are updating the configuration in real time, this selection is already
made for you by IBM Systems Director querying the firmware level of the
target device. In some cases, both legacy and enhanced monitored-alert
settings are displayed.
13. For each alert category (Critical, Warning, and System), select the alert
categories to enable for notification.
14. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
15. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring alert recipients for an IBM BladeCenter management module:

Alert recipients are those people or targets that are notified when an alert in a
category having alert notification enabled for an IBM BladeCenter management
module occurs.

472 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include management
modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided by these
templates might be made by way of the management module, but actually might
affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components.

Important: Only one alert recipient is permitted. If more than one management
server discovers and manages the management module, alerts might be lost.

To configure an alert recipient, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Alert Recipient.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Alert Recipient page is displayed.
9. Click Create. The Alert Recipient Creation page is displayed.
10. Type the name of the alert recipient in the Recipient name field.
11. Select the index for the recipient. Valid values are 1 - 12. You can define up to
12 unique recipients. Each link for an alert recipient is labeled with the
configured description for that particular recipient. If you have not configured
a recipient, the description of the link will be ~ not used ~.
12. In the Status list, select the status for the alert recipient:
Activate
Send alerts to this recipient.
Deactivate
Do not send alerts to this recipient. The Deactivate status is used to
temporarily omit a recipient from the list of those to receive alerts, for
example, a person on vacation.
13. Select whether all alerts or only critical alerts will cause this recipient to
receive notification.
14. Select the type of notification for this recipient:
v SNMP over LAN
v E-mail over LAN
Type the alert recipient's e-mail address in the form userid@hostname.
v IBM Systems Director (comprehensive)
Type the alert recipient's IP address or host name.
15. Click OK. The Management Module Alert Recipient page is displayed with
the new recipient in the table.
16. Select the recipient that you created.
17. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 473


Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
18. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Deleting alert recipients for an IBM BladeCenter management module:

Use this procedure to delete an alert recipient and associated user ID. When you
delete an alert recipient from the table, the recipient is removed from the
configuration template, but the user ID that has been created remains. To delete
this user ID, create a new task with the task name “Delete Account.”

To delete an alert recipient and the associated user ID, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Module
Alert Recipient.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Module Alert Recipient page is displayed.
9. Select the alert recipient that you want to delete.
10. Click Delete.
11. In the confirmation window, click OK to verify the deletion. The entry for this
user is deleted from the table.
12. Click Create.
13. In the Select a task list, select Delete Recipient.
14. Select an index for this recipient.
15. Click OK. The Management Module Alert Recipient page is displayed with
the new recipient in the table.
16. In the table, select the new Delete Account task to run.
17. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
18. To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring network resources for IBM BladeCenter blade


servers
Use this template to configure the resources for those IBM BladeCenter
components that support external network access, including network interface card
(NIC) selection.

Note: You can use this template for BladeCenter installations that include
advanced management modules only. The settings provided by this template might

474 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


be made by way of the advanced management module, but actually affect HC10
and JS22 blade server models. All settings might not be applicable for the each
supported blade server.

To configure the network resources for a blade server, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Management Network
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Management Network Configuration page is displayed.
9. Type the VLAN ID.
10. Type the Blade System Management Processor (BSMP) IP address range
(Starting IP address).

Note: IPv4 addresses are accepted.


11. Click Create. Management Network Configuration (page2) page is displayed.
12. Select the blade-server bay number. The available number of blade server bays
varies by IBM BladeCenter chassis model.
13. Select the bay width. Valid values are 1 - 4.
14. Select the NIC value. Valid values are 1 - (bay width setting x 8).
15. Indicate whether the NIC type is public or private secure.
16. In the Status list, specify whether the NIC is deactivated or activated. The
default is Activate.
17. In the VLAN ID status list, specify whether the VLAN ID is deactivated or
activated. The default is Activate.
18. Type the NIC VLAN ID.
19. Select your Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) setting from the
DHCP list.
20. Click OK. The Management Network Configuration page is displayed with
the new entry in the table.
21. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
22. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring SNMP agent community information


You can configure the SNMP community information for SNMP agents installed on
System x servers and IBM BladeCenter blade servers.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 475


Notes:
v This template provides the function that was previously provided in earlier
versions of IBM Director by the Configure SNMP Agent task.
v The settings in this template are applied to the system by way of the Common
Agent or Platform Agent.
v If you have installed the IBM Systems Director 6.2.1 Tech Preview KVM
Platform Agent for Linux on x86-64, you cannot use the SNMP Agent
Configuration template to configure the operating system.

To configure the SNMP agent community information, complete the following


steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select SNMP Agent
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The SNMP Agent Configuration page is displayed.
9. Click Create. The Create SNMP Community window is displayed.
10. In the Community name field, type the community name to use for the
SNMP agent and click Add.
11. In the Trap destination field, type the trap destination to add to the Trap
destinations list. You can add one or more trap destinations.
12. To change a trap destination, type the new information in the Trap
destination field, select the affected trap in the Trap destination list, and then
click Update.
13. To remove a trap destination, select the affected trap in the Trap destination
list and click Remove.
14. When you are finished configuring the SNMP community information, click
OK. The SNMP community information is saved and is displayed on the
SNMP Agent Configuration page.
15. In the table, select the community that you created.
16. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
17. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring the IP address pool for IBM BladeCenter systems


and System x servers
An IP address pool is a collection of static IP addresses that you can use when
configuring internal ports for IBM BladeCenter management modules and switch
modules, and for System x service processors.

476 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To configure one BladeCenter chassis, you require a minimum of three IP
addresses. However, you might want to configure a larger pool of IP addresses so
that you can use the profile for future BladeCenter chassis configurations. The IP
addresses must be located on the same subnet on the management local area
network (LAN).

To configure the IP address pool, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select IP Address Pool
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Click Continue. The IP Pool Configuration page is displayed.
8. Fill in the values as appropriate, then click Add to add the address to the IP
address list.
9. Optional: If an address is incorrect, select it and either click Remove to delete
it from the IP address list or type the correct address in the applicable IP
address field and then click Update.
10. Optional: To reset the IP address list to the values that it had when the IP
Pool Configuration page was first displayed, click Reset.
11. Click Save to store the IP addresses in the IP address pool.

You now can use the IP address pool on configuration pages that provide the Get
IP address from IP address pool selection.

Configuring System x service processors


The configuration of System x service processors consists of providing
configuration information for these areas: login, security, networks, SNMP options,
ports, and alerts.

Configuring login information for a System x service processor


You can create a new user account to log into a service processor. This user
account can be used to access the service processor with different programs across
different interfaces, including the service-processor Web interface and
command-line interface, UpdateXpress, and more. You also can edit and delete the
user accounts.

Note: You can use this template for systems that include the following service
processors:
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Baseboard management controller (BMC)

This template is supported for scalable system partitions, as long as they use an
RSA service processor.

You can use this template for System x servers. The settings provided by this
template might be made by way of the service processor or the Common Agent or

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 477


Platform Agent, but the settings actually might affect other components in the
server. All settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

Creating a new account for a System x service processor:

To create a new account for a user of a service processor, you must supply a user
name, password, and access type.

To create a new account of a user of the service processor, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor Login
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Service Processor Login Configuration page is displayed.
9. Click Create Task. The Create Service Processor Login window is displayed.
10. In the Select a task list, select Create New Account.
11. In the User name field, type the unique user name for the account.
12. In the Password field, type the password for the account. The password must
meet the following criteria:
v Alphanumeric characters only
v 5 - 15 characters
v At least 1 alphabetic character
v At least 1 numeric character
13. In the Confirmation password field, type the password again for the account.
If the passwords do not match, an error message is displayed.
14. In the User access list, select the user access permission for the account.
Administrator
The user is to have full administrator access to the service processor.
Read-only
The user cannot change any information on the service processor.
15. Click OK. The Service Processor Login Configuration page is displayed with
the new task.

Important: You must complete the following steps in this procedure or the
task will not be run.
16. Select the tasks (including the task that you just created) that you want to run.
17. Click Save to run the selected tasks and save the changes into the
configuration template. If you are updating the configuration in real time,
click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.

478 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


18. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Modifying an existing account for a System x service processor:

For an existing user of a service processor, you can modify the password or access
type.

To modify an existing account for a user of a service processor, complete the


following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor Login
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically deploy
this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Service Processor Login Configuration page is displayed.
9. Click Create Task. The Create Service Processor Login window is displayed.
10. In the Select a task list, select Modify Existing Account.
11. Type the user name of the account to be modified.
12. If you are changing the password, type the new password to assign to this
user in the Password field. The password must meet the following criteria:
v Alphanumeric characters only
v 5 - 15 characters
v At least 1 alphabetic character
v At least 1 numeric character
13. If you are changing the password, type the new password in the Confirm
password field. If the passwords do not match, an error message is displayed.
14. If you are changing the user access type, select one of the following values:
Administrator
The user is to have full administrator access to the service processor.
Read-only
The user cannot change any information on the service processor.
15. Click OK. The Service Processor Login Configuration page is displayed with
the new task.

Important: You must complete the following steps in this procedure or the
task will not be run.
16. Select the tasks (including the task that you just created) that you want to run.
17. To run the selected tasks and save the changes into the configuration template,
click Save. If you are updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
18. To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 479


Deleting an account for a System x service processor:

Delete accounts for a service processor when they are no longer needed.

To delete an account for a user of a service processor, complete the following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor Login
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically deploy
this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Service Processor Login Configuration page is displayed.
9. Click Create Task. The Create Service Processor Login window is displayed.
10. In the Select a task list, select Delete Account.
11. Type the user name of the account to be deleted.
12. Click OK. The Service Processor Login Configuration page is displayed with
the new task.

Important: You must complete the following steps in this procedure or the
task will not be run.
13. Select the tasks (including the task that you just created) that you want to run.
14. To run the selected tasks and save the changes into the configuration template,
click Save. If you are updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
15. To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring security levels for a System x service processor


Configure security levels for a service processor in order to control access to the
service processor by users of IBM Systems Director. The available security levels,
or password policies, are legacy, predefined high security, or custom security. The
chosen security level applies to all users logging into the management module or
service processor; you cannot specify different security levels for individual users.
Security-level settings can include expiration date, retry count, password reuse
settings, and more.

You can use this template for System x servers and scalable system partitions that
include a Remote Supervisor Adapter II. The settings provided by this template
might be made by way of the Remote Supervisor Adapter II or the Common Agent
or Platform Agent, but the settings actually might affect other components in the
server. All settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To specify the security level for a service processor, complete the following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.

480 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor
Security Level Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Service Processor Security Level Configuration page is
displayed.
9. In the Security level list, select a security level. For detailed information about
the password security levels, see “Password security levels for IBM
BladeCenter management modules and System x service processors.”
10. If you did not select Custom, click Save and do not complete any of the
remaining steps.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
11. In the User login password required list, specify whether you want to require
passwords when users log in to the management module or service processor:
nothing selected
No selection has been made. If you save with this selection, the User
login password required property is not applied.
Activated
A password is required for user login.
Deactivated
A password is not required for user login.
12. Type the password expiration period, in days. Valid values are 0 - 365, where
0 indicates a password that will never expire.
13. Select the minimum password reuse cycle. Valid values are 1 - 5. This field
indicates the number of unique passwords that must be used before a
previously used password can be repeated. To indicate that there is no
password reuse cycle, select Disabled.
14. Select a setting to indicate whether the user will be forced to change the
password at the time of the first access:
nothing selected
No selection has been made. If you save with this selection, the
Require the user to change the password on first access property is
not be applied.
Activated
The user is required to change the password on the first login.
Deactivated
The user is not required to change the password on the first login.
15. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 481


16. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring the network IP for a System x service processor


Use this template to configure the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
and static IP addresses used to access a System x service processor.

Note: You can use this template for systems that include the following service
processors:
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Baseboard management controller (BMC)

This template is supported for scalable system partitions, as long as they use an
RSA service processor.

You can use this template for System x servers. The settings provided by this
template might be made by way of the service processor or the Common Agent or
Platform Agent, but the settings actually might affect other components in the
server. All settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To specify the network IP for a System x service processor, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor
Network IP Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Click Continue. The Service Processor Network IP Configuration page is
displayed.
8. Click Add. The Create Network IP Configuration window is displayed.
9. Select the type of node that you want to configure.
10. If you selected Secondary node, specify the index in the Index list. The
minimum value permitted is 1 and there is no maximum value.
11. Select the DHCP setting from the DHCP list.
Activated
DHCP is activated.
Deactivated
DHCP is deactivated; that is, the DHCP function will not be used. The
service processor will use a static IP address.
If DHCP fails, use static IP configuration
If DHCP is used and fails while running, use the static IP address
information.
12. Click OK.
13. On the Service Processor Network IP Configuration page, select the node that
you created.
14. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

482 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
15. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring SNMP options for a System x service processor


Configure options used by IBM Systems Director so that Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) v1 and v3 can be used to access the service
processor.

Note: You can use this template for systems that include the following service
processors:
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II

This template is supported for scalable system partitions, as long as they use an
RSA service processor.

You can use this template for System x servers. The settings provided by this
template might be made by way of the service processor or the Common Agent or
Platform Agent, but the settings actually might affect other components in the
server. All settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To specify the SNMPv1 protocols for the service processor, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor
Network SNMP Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Click Continue. The Service Processor SNMP Configuration page is displayed.
8. Select an SNMPv1 agent state:
nothing-selected
Nothing is configured if this field is left blank.
Activated
The SNMP agent is active.
Deactivated
The SNMP agent is not active.
9. In the Trap state list, select a status:
nothing-selected
Nothing is configured if this field is left blank.
Activated
SNMP agents can asynchronously provide important but unsolicited
information, such as extraordinary events.
Deactivated
The trap state is not being used. This setting is the default.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 483


10. In the Contact information field, type the name of a person responsible for
the management module. This field accepts any ASCII words, such as a name,
e-mail address, and so forth.
11. In the Location field, type a description of the physical location of the
management module. This field accepts any ASCII words, such as a building
name or number, floor, column, geographic region, city, country, and so forth.
12. In the Community table, click Create. The Create New Community window is
displayed.
13. Select a community index. Valid values are 1, 2, or 3.
14. Select the access type:
Get All hosts in the community can receive traps and query Management
Information Base (MIB) objects. This value is the default.
Set All hosts in the community can receive traps, and query and set MIB
objects.
Trap All hosts in the community can receive traps.
15. Type a unique community name in the Community name field.
16. Type the value for the trap IP address or host name 1.
17. Type the value for the trap IP address or host name 2.
18. Type the value for the trap IP address or host name 3.
19. Click OK to record the changes in the SNMP communities table.
20. In the table, select the community that you created.
21. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
22. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring ports for a System x service processor


Use this task to configure the ports numbers used to access the IBM BladeCenter
management module with various network services.

You can use this template for System x servers and scalable system partitions that
include a Remote Supervisor Adapter II. The settings provided by this template
might be made by way of the Remote Supervisor Adapter II or the Common Agent
or Platform Agent, but the settings actually might affect other components in the
server. All settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

Note: When this page is displayed for the first time, the default port numbers that
shipped with IBM Systems Director for each network service are displayed.

To change the port numbers for the service processor, complete the following steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor Ports
Configuration.

484 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Click Continue. The Service Processor Ports Configuration page is displayed.
On this page the current port number for each network service is displayed.
8. Make changes to these values as necessary. Valid port numbers are between 1
- 65535.
9. Optional: Click Restore Defaults to reset this page to the default values that
were shipped with IBM Systems Director.
10. Optional: Click Reset to remove any changes that you have made and restore
this page to the values it had the last time that Save was clicked or to the
default values if Save has never been clicked on this page.
11. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
12. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring alert recipients for a System x service processor


Alert recipients are those people or targets that are notified when an alert in a
category having alert notification enabled for a System x service processor occurs.

Note: You can use this template for systems that include the following service
processors:
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II
v Baseboard management controller (BMC)

This template is supported for scalable system partitions, as long as they use an
RSA service processor.

You can use this template for System x servers. The settings provided by this
template might be made by way of the service processor or the Common Agent or
Platform Agent, but the settings actually might affect other components in the
server. All settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To configure an alert recipient, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor Alert
Recipient.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Service Processor Alert Recipient page is displayed.
9. Click Create. The Alert Recipient Creation page is displayed.
10. Type the name of the alert recipient in the Recipient name field.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 485


11. Select the index for the recipient. Valid values are 1 - 12. You can define up to
12 unique recipients. Each link for an alert recipient is labeled with the
configured description for that particular recipient. If you have not configured
a recipient, the description of the link will be ~ not used ~.
12. In the Status list, select the status for the alert recipient:
Activate
Send alerts to this recipient.
Deactivate
Do not send alerts to this recipient. The Deactivate status is used to
temporarily omit a recipient from the list of those to receive alerts, for
example, a person on vacation.
13. Select whether all alerts or only critical alerts will cause this recipient to
receive notification.
14. Select the type of notification for this recipient
IBM Systems Director over LAN
Type the alert recipient's IP address or host name.

Note: IPv4 addresses are accepted.


IBM Systems Director (comprehensive)
Type the alert recipient's IP address or host name.

Note: IPv4 addresses are accepted.


IBM Systems Director over modem
Type the phone number, user name, and password.
E-mail over LAN
Type the alert recipient's e-mail address in the form userid@hostname.
E-mail over PPP
For Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), type the alert recipient's e-mail
address in the form userid@hostname, the user name, password, and
phone number.
Pager - numeric
Type the phone number and personal identification number (PIN) for
the pager service.
Pager - alphanumeric
Type the phone number and PIN for the pager service.
SNMP over LAN
This selection does not require any information.
SNMP over PPP
Type the alert recipient's user name, password, and phone number.
15. Click OK. The Service Processor Alert Recipient page is displayed with the
new recipient in the table.
16. Select the recipient that you created.
17. Click Save to run the selected tasks and save the changes into the
configuration template. If you are updating the configuration in real time,
click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
18. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

486 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Deleting alert recipients for a System x service processor
Use this procedure to delete an alert recipient and associated user ID. When you
delete an alert recipient from the table, the recipient is removed from the
configuration template, but the user ID that has been created remains. To delete
this user ID, create a new task with the task name “Delete Account.”

To delete an alert recipient and the associated user ID, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor Alert
Recipient.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Service Processor Alert Recipient page is displayed.
9. Select the alert recipient that you want to delete.
10. Click Delete.
11. In the confirmation window, click OK to verify the deletion. The entry for this
user is deleted from the table.
12. Click Create.
13. In the Select a task list, select Delete Recipient.
14. Select an index for this recipient.
15. Click OK. The Service Processor Alert Recipient page is displayed with the
new recipient in the table.
16. In the table, select the new Delete Account task to run.
17. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
18. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring alert settings for a System x service processor


Configure alert settings for a service processor so that only the alerts that are
important to your installation cause notification to be sent to the alert recipient.
These alert settings apply to all alert recipients. You cannot specify different
settings for individual alert recipients.

Note: You can use this template for systems that include the following service
processors:
v Remote Supervisor Adapter
v Remote Supervisor Adapter II

This template is supported for scalable system partitions, as long as they use an
RSA service processor.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 487


You can use this template for System x servers. The settings provided by this
template might be made by way of the service processor or the Common Agent or
Platform Agent, but the settings actually might affect other components in the
server. All settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To specify alert settings, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Service Processor Alert
Settings.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Service Processor Alert Settings page is displayed.
9. In the Remote-alert-retry limit list, select the number of times to permit
retrying a remote alert. If an alert notification is sent and it does not reach its
recipient, the alert notification will be sent again this number of times. Valid
values are 0 - 8. A value of 0 indicates that the remote alert will not be sent
again. This value applies only to e-mail and IBM Systems Director alerts.
SNMP alerts are attempted only once.
10. In the Delay between retries list, select a value in minutes for the delay time
between retries. If an alert notification is sent and it does not reach its
recipient, the alert notification will be sent again after this number of minutes
has elapsed until it has been retried the number of times specified in the
Remote-alert-retry limit list. Valid values are between 0.5 - 4.0, in half minute
intervals. The default is 0.5 minutes.
11. In the Delay between entries list, select a value in minutes to indicate the
number of minutes that the service processor waits between alert-forwarding
profiles, if multiple alert-forwarding profiles are configured. The service
processor runs each profile sequentially. Valid values are between 0.5 - 4.0, in
half minute intervals. The default is 0.5 minutes.
12. If you want the event log of the failing system sent with alert notification
when the alert recipient is using e-mail, select Include the event log with
e-mail alerts. Event logs cannot be sent to an alert recipient who uses any
notification mechanism other than e-mail.
13. For each category (Critical Alerts, Warning Alerts, System Alerts, and
Monitored Local Events), select the alert categories to enable for notification.
14. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
15. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring switch protocol information


Configuring the protocol settings for a switch consists of configuring login,
network protocols, SNMPv1 agents, and ports. This can be done for IBM
BladeCenter switch modules, as well as stand-alone switches.

488 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include management
modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided by these
templates might be made by way of the management module, but actually might
affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components. Both management modules and
advanced management modules provide applicable template settings for Ethernet
and FibreChannel switch modules. Only advanced management modules provide
applicable template settings for SAS switch modules.

Note: All settings in a template might not be supported for a particular switch.
Vendor provided plugins are used to implement the configuration settings, and
either the plugin or the switch might not support certain configuration settings.
For more information about vendor plugns, see "Downloading and activating
BladeCenter I/O module plug-ins" and "Downloading and activating
non-BladeCenter partner plug-in extensions".

To configure switch protocol information, follow these steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. Select the appropriate value for Template type.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Switch Protocol
Configuration, where Switch is the switch model with the protocols that you
want to configure.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Protocol Configuration page is displayed.
9. Click Create. The Protocol Configuration page changes to display 4, or
possibly 5 tabs: Login Configuration, Network Protocols, SNMPv1 Agent, Port
Configuration, and possibly I/O Protected Mode.
10. Select the Login Configuration tab and specify the user name, password, and
other information necessary for IBM Systems Director to log in to the switch:
a. Select the chassis bay number. All is the default selection.

Note: This field is only shown if you chose a BladeCenter chassis for
Template type in step 3.
b. Optional: Click Reset to factory-default settings to reset the switch back to
initial factory settings and to use the switch's factory-default user name
and password to log into the switch.
c. If you do not want to define user-account information at this time, click
Do not define a new account configuration at this time.
d. If you do want to define user-account information, you can choose to click
Use an account configuration provided by a user-authentication template
to select previously created user-account information from a
user-authentication template. Otherwise, you can click Use the specified
account configuration:
1) Specify the user name that is used to log into the switch. This user
name is validated by the vendor-provided plugin. A default user ID of
USERID can be used for BladeCenter switch modules. Other switches
might have different default user IDs.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 489


2) Type the password in the Password and Confirmation password
fields. Make sure that they are identical.
e. Optional: Click Set to the local time used by IBM Systems Director
Server if you want the switch module to use the local date and time of
IBM Systems Director Server.
11. Click the Network Protocols tab:
a. Select the static IP address configuration.
No IP address
The current switch IP address will be used.
Get an IP address from the IP address pool
An address will be obtained by IBM Systems Director from the IP
address pool.
Use the specified IP address
You provide a specific IP address.
b. If your selection requires an IP address, select either to get an IP address
from the IP address pool or to specify an IP address. For information about
the IP address pool, see “Configuring the IP address pool for IBM
BladeCenter and System x servers.”
c. If you selected Get an IP address from the IP address pool, select an IP
address pool template.
d. If you selected Use the specified IP address, type the IP address, gateway,
and subnet mask.

Notes:
v IPv4 addresses are accepted for all switches. IPv6 addresses are accepted
for some switches. This depends on whether the vendor-provided plugin
for the switch supports IPv6 addresses.
v For IPv6, the Subnet Mask field should contain the integer IPv6 subnet
prefix length, not a mask value.
e. In the HTTP list, select the type of access to grant to the switch when IBM
Systems Director uses the HTTP protocol:
nothing selected
Specifies no selection.
Activate_read_only
Enables using the HTTP protocol, but in read-only mode.
Activate
Enables the HTTP protocol on the switch.
Deactivate
Disables the HTTP protocol on the switch.
f. In the Telnet list, select the type of access to be granted to the switch when
IBM Systems Director uses the Telnet protocol.
nothing selected
Specifies no selection.
Activate_read_only
Enables using the Telnet protocol, but in read-only mode.
Activate
Enables the Telnet protocol on the switch.

490 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Deactivate
Disables the Telnet protocol on the switch.
12. Click the SNMPv1 Agent tab. Follow these steps to create one or more
SNMPv1 community names:
a. Click Create. The Create New Community window is displayed.
b. Select the community index.
c. Select the type of access to grant the SNMPv1 agent:
nothing selected
Specifies that no selection is made.
Activate_read_only
Starts the SNMPv1 agent on the switch, but does not permit
changes to any of the configuration information.
Activate
Starts the SNMPv1 agent on the switch and permits changes to the
configuration information.
Deactivate
Stops the SNMPv1 agent on the switch.
d. Type the community name.
e. Type the IP address or host name for SNMP trap 1, SNMP trap 2, and
SNMP trap 3.

Note: IPv4 addresses and host names are accepted for all switches. IPv6
addresses are accepted for some switches. This depends on whether the
vendor-provided plugin for the switch supports IPv6 addresses.
f. Click OK.
13. Click the Port Configuration tab.
a. In the External ports list, select the type of access to grant to the switch
when IBM Systems Director uses an external port:
nothing selected
Specifies that there is nothing configured
Activate_read_only
Enable external ports but do not permit changes to the port
configuration information
Activate
Enable external ports and permit changes to the port configuration
information
Deactivate
Disable external ports
14. If the I/O Protected Mode tab is visible, then the BladeCenter switch module
provides support for I/O protected mode. Click the I/O Protected Mode tab
to configure I/O Protected Mode settings.
15. In the Protected mode field, set the protected mode state to either Deactivate
or Activate.
16. Configure the Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) settings.
a. In the VLAN ID field, type the new VLAN ID for the switch when it is in
protected mode. Valid values are 1 - 4095.
b. From the Interface number list, select the interface number for the new
VLAN when it is in protected mode.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 491


c. Select the method of providing an IP address. To obtain an IP address from
the IP pool, click Get an IP address from the IP address pool. To provide
a specific IP address, Use the specified IP address.
d. If you selected Get an IP address from the IP address pool, select an IP
address pool template. For information about the IP address pool, see
“Configuring the IP address pool for IBM BladeCenter and System x
servers.”
e. If you selected Use the specified IP address, type the IP address, gateway,
and subnet mask.

Note: IPv4 addresses and host names are accepted for all switches. IPv6
addresses are accepted for some switches. This depends on whether the
vendor-provided plugin for the switch supports IPv6 addresses.
f. In the External ports table, select at least one port.
17. Configure the switch I/O-protected-mode properties. The following settings
are available:
Activate_read_only
Starts the switch, but does not permit changes to any of the
configuration information on the switch
Activate
Starts the switch and permits changes to the configuration information
Deactivate
Stops the switch
a. Select the access type for the IP address parameters setting.
b. Select the access type for the External port access setting.
c. Select the access type for the External port management setting.
d. Select the access type for the Reset to factory-default settings setting.
18. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close the page without making a selection and clicking
Save, no changes are made to the template and the information that you
entered is lost.
19. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Configuring switch virtual LAN information


Run the VLAN configuration wizard to configure the virtual LAN (VLAN) settings
for a switch. This can be done for IBM BladeCenter switch modules as well as for
other (stand-alone) switches.

You can use these templates for BladeCenter installations that include management
modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided by these
templates might be made by way of the management module, but actually might
affect other components in the BladeCenter environment. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components. Both the management modules and
advanced management modules provide settings for Ethernet and Converged
Enhanced Ethernet switches in these templates.

Note: All settings in a template might not be supported for a particular switch.
Vendor provided plugins are used to implement the configuration settings, and
either the vendor plugin or the switch might not support certain VLAN

492 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


configuration settings. For more information on vendor plugns, see “Downloading
and activating BladeCenter I/O module plug-ins” and “Downloading and
activating non-BladeCenter partner plug-in extensions”.

To configure the switch VLAN information, follow these steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select the appropriate value for Template
type.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Switch VLAN
Configuration where Switch is the switch model with the VLAN that you
want to configure.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The VLAN Configuration wizard is displayed.
9. Optional: Clear Show this Welcome page next time if you do not want to see
the Welcome page the next time that you start this wizard.
10. On the Bay number page, select a bay number for the switch module. The
default value is All, which indicates that the profile applies to all chassis bays
that include a switch module of this type. If you select a specific bay number,
the profile will apply only to switch modules of the given type that are
installed in the specified bay.

Note: The Bay number menu is greyed out for stand-alone (non-BladeCenter)
switches.
11. Click Next.
12. On the VLAN configuration page, click Create to create one or more new
VLAN configurations. The Create VLAN Configuration window is displayed.
13. In the Select a task list, select Create a new VLAN configuration.
14. Type a unique VLAN name. Valid names can be 1 - 32 characters in length.
15. Type the VLAN ID. The ID is a unique number that identifies the VLAN.
Valid values range from 2 - 4094. A value of 1 is reserved for the default
VLAN.
16. Select a VLAN type.

Note: Only the settings supported by the switch are displayed.


permanent
Indicates that the VLAN is active and will remain so after the next
reset of the device. This selection is the default.
dynamic GVRP
Indicates that the VLAN is active and will remain so until removed by
GVRP.
other Indicates that the VLAN is active, but is not permanent or dynamic
GVRP.
17. Select the VLAN status of Activate or Deactivate.
18. Click OK to return to the VLAN configuration page. The new VLAN
configuration is displayed in the table.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 493


19. Click Next.
20. On the VLAN egress configuration page, click Create to create one or more
new VLAN egress configurations.
21. In the Create VLAN egress configuration window, select a VLAN ID
associated with the configuration on the previous page.
22. Select the port number. Valid port values vary by switch type.
23. Select VLAN egress status.
No egress
Frames are not forwarded out of the port.
Tagged
Only tagged frames are forwarded out of the port.
Untagged
Only untagged frames are forwarded out of the port.
24. Click OK to return to the VLAN egress configuration table. The new VLAN
egress configuration is displayed in the table.
25. Click Next.
26. On the VLAN port configuration page, click Create to create one or more new
VLAN port configurations.
27. In the Create VLAN port configuration window, select the port number. Valid
port values vary by switch type.
28. Type the port VLAN ID.
29. Select the type of frames that the port accepts.

Note: Only the settings supported by the switch module are displayed.
Accept all
The port accepts both tagged and untagged frames.
Accept tagged
The port accepts only tagged frames.
Accept none
The port will not accept packets with this VLAN ID.
No support
The port does not support this functionality.
30. Select whether to activate the GARP VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP)
status. GVRP dynamically adds VLANs to port egress lists across a domain.
31. Specify whether you want to activate the ingress filtering. Ports performing
ingress filtering discard any frame received that has a VLAN classification that
is not on the egress list of the port. Activate is the default setting.
32. Click OK to return to the VLAN port configuration table. The new VLAN
port configuration is displayed in the table.
33. Click Next.
34. On the Summary page, review your selections.
35. Optional: If you want to change any selections, click Back or select the page
from the wizard navigation area.
36. When you are satisfied with your selections, click Finish.

494 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Configuring users and passwords for an IBM BladeCenter
chassis
Use this page to specify users and their passwords for IBM BladeCenter chassis
access.

To configure a user to log into an IBM BladeCenter chassis, complete the following
steps:
1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select an appropriate target chassis from the
Template type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select User Authentication
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The User Authentication Configuration page is displayed.
9. Type a unique user ID in the User ID field. A user ID can contain only letters
and numbers and the length must be 1 - 8 characters.
10. Type a password for the user in the Password field. A password can contain
only letters and numbers and must contain at least one letter and one number.
Also, the password must be 8 characters long.
11. Type the password again in the Confirmation password field.
12. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template.
13. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Managing network-configuration information


Configuration manager provides network configuration tasks to view and edit
settings for Ethernet adapters, IP addresses, Domain Name System (DNS)
configurations, Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) configurations, and
Windows domains and workgroups.

Notes:
v This template provides the function that was previously provided in earlier
versions of IBM Director by the Network Configuration task.
v The settings in this template are applied to the system by way of the Common
Agent or Platform Agent.

Configuring network adapters


You can configure network adapters that are installed in System x servers and IBM
BladeCenter blade servers.

To configure network adapter, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 495


4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Network Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Click Continue. The Network Configuration page is displayed.
8. On the Network Adapter page, select a network adapter and click Edit.
9. In the Network Adapter Configuration wizard, the Welcome page is
displayed. Click Next.
10. On the IP address page, specify whether you want to use full name (DHCP)
to obtain an IP address.

Option Description
Use DHCP to obtain an IP address 1. Select Activate in the DHCP list.
2. Go to step 13
Do not use DHCP to obtain an IP address 1. Select Deactivate in the DHCP list.
2. Go to step 11

11. If you want to obtain the IP address from the IP address pool, click Get an IP
address from the IP address pool and select an IP-address pool template.
Then, go to step 13. (For information about the IP address pool, see
“Configuring the IP address pool for IBM BladeCenter and System x servers.”)
12. If you want to specify the IP address, click Use the specified IP address and
type the IP address, gateway, and subnet mask.
13. Click Next.
14. On the DNS domain page, in the Suffix field, type the DNS domain for the
specified network adapter setting.
15. On the DNS server search order page, specify the DNS-server search order by
completing the following steps:
a. In the Server IP address field, type the DNS server IP address and click
Add. The IP address is added to the Server search order list.
b. To change the order of a server in the list, select the IP address and click
Up or Down to adjust the order.
c. To update an IP address, select the IP address to update in the Server
search order list, type the new information in the Server IP address field,
and click Update.
d. To remove an IP address, select the IP address and click Remove.
16. Click Next. If you are configuring network adapter settings for a system
running Windows, the WINS page is displayed. Otherwise, the Summary page
is displayed.
17. (Windows only) On the WINS page, type the IP address for the primary and
secondary servers. Then, click Next.
18. On the Summary page, verify the details of the configuration settings. If you
need to make changes, click Back.
19. When you are done editing the configuration settings, click Finish.

The configuration settings are saved and are displayed on the Network Adapter
page.

496 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Setting the search order for the DNS suffix
You can set the search order for the DNS suffix for your network configuration.

To set the search order for the DNS suffix, complete the following steps:
1. On the Network Configuration page, click the DNS Suffix Search Order tab.
2. On the DNS Suffix Search Order page, specify the DNS server search order by
completing the following steps:
a. In the Suffix field, type the DNS server suffix and click Add. The IP
address is added to the Suffix search order list.
b. To change the order of a server in the list, select the suffix and click Up or
Down to adjust the order.
c. To update a suffix, select the suffix to update in the Suffix search order list,
type the new information in the Suffix field, and click Update.
d. To remove a suffix, select the suffix and click Remove.
3. When you are done editing the suffix order, click Save. If you are updating the
configuration in real time, click Deploy. To discard any changes you have
made, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the previously saved values, click
Reset. You still must click Save to save the restored settings.

Configuring the domain or workgroup settings


Use the Domain/Workgroup page to configure the managed system as a member
of a domain or workgroup. If the system is a domain member, you also can use
this page to give a user account permission to join the domain.

To configure the domain or workgroup settings, complete the following steps:


1. On the Network Configuration page, click the Domain/Workgroup tab.
2. On the Domain/Workgroup page, type the computer name of the affected
managed system.

Note: Only the Computer name field is valid for managed systems running
Linux or IBM i operating systems.
3. Specify whether you want the specified system to be a member of a domain or
a workgroup and type the domain name or workgroup name in the associated
field.
4. If you selected Domain, specify a user account permission to join the domain
by providing the user name and password of the account.
5. When you are finished editing the settings, click Save. If you are updating the
configuration in real time, click Deploy. To discard any changes you have
made, click Cancel. To reset the settings to the previously saved values, click
Reset and then click Save to save the restored settings.

Managing system-account information


Configuration manager provides wizards that you can use to configure
system-account information for users or groups of users accessing either Windows
or Linux operating systems that are running on System x servers and IBM
BladeCenter blade servers.

Notes:
v This template provides the function that was previously provided in earlier
versions of IBM Director by the System Accounts task.
v The settings in this template are applied to the system by way of the Common
Agent or Platform Agent.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 497


Configuring system-account information for users
You can add system-account information for users accessing either Windows or
Linux operating systems that are running on System x servers and IBM
BladeCenter blade servers.

Notes:
v The settings in this template are applied to the system by way of the Common
Agent or Platform Agent.
v This task is not supported if you have installed the IBM Systems Director 6.2.1
Tech Preview KVM Platform Agent for Linux on x86-64.

To add a user account, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select System Account
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The System Account Configuration page is displayed.
9. Click Create.
10. In the System Account Configuration wizard, the Welcome page is displayed.
Click Next.
11. On the Operating-system type page, indicate whether the user account will be
used to access a system running the Windows, Linux, or IBM i operating
system. Click Next.
12. On the General page, provide the following information about the user:

Note: For IBM Systems Director 6.2.0 and higher agents, these Windows-only
fields are ignored:
User must change the password at next logon
User cannot change the password
Password never expires
Account is inactive
Home Folder drive
a. In the User name field, type the operating-system account user name.
b. Optional: In the Full name field, type the full name for the user of the
account.
c. Optional: (IBM i and Windows only) In the Description field, type a
description for the user account.
d. (Windows only) Specify whether the user account is locked out.
13. Click Next.
14. In the Available groups list on the Membership page, select one or more
system-account groups to which this user account belongs and click Add. The
selected groups are moved to the Selected groups list.

498 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


15. Click Next.
16. On the Profile page, provide the profile information for the applicable
operating system.

Option Description
For IBM i and Linux 1. In the Shell field, type the shell name
that the user will use after logging in, for
example, /bin/bash.
2. In the Home directory field, type the
home directory for the user profile.
For Windows 1. Optional: In the Path field, type the
configuration file path. Specify this value
if you want to use a user profile
configuration file. For example,
\\server_name\profiles_folder_name\
user_name.
2. In the Logon script field, type the logon
script.
3. In the Home Folder area, select Local
path to specify the local path for the
home folder; otherwise, complete the
following steps to assign a home folder
on a network server:
a. Click Connect and click a hard disk
drive from the list.
b. In the To field, type a network path,
for example, \\server\users\
username, where username is the user
name that you specified on the
General page.

17. Click Next.


18. On the Password page, type, and then confirm, the password for the user
account on the operating system.
19. If you are providing password information for a Linux-based user account, the
Password details page is displayed. On this page, provide the following
information.

Note: If you are updating the configuration in real time, the date and time
that the password was last changed is displayed.
a. Type the number of days to retain a password.
b. Type the number of days after which the password must be changed.
c. Type the number of days before the password expires to warn the user
that the password is preparing to expire.
d. Type the number of days after which the password will expire.
e. Set the password expiration date. Click the calendar icon to select a date
and click OK.
20. Click Next.
21. On the Summary page, verify the details of the user account. If you need to
make changes, click Back.
22. When you are finished editing the user account, click Finish.

The user account is saved and is displayed on the Users page.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 499


Configuring system-account information for groups
You can add system-account information for groups accessing either Windows or
Linux operating systems that are running on System x servers and IBM
BladeCenter blade servers.

Notes:
v The settings in this template are applied to the system by way of the Common
Agent or Platform Agent.
v This task is not supported if you have installed the IBM Systems Director 6.2.1
Tech Preview KVM Platform Agent for Linux on x86-64.

To add a group account, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select System Account
Configuration.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The System Account Configuration page is displayed.
9. On the System Account Configuration page, click the Groups tab.
10. On the Groups page, click Create.
11. In the System Account Configuration wizard, the Welcome page is displayed.
Click Next.
12. On the Operating-system type page, specify whether the group of accounts is
for accessing a system running the Windows, IBM i, or Linux operating
system. Click Next.
13. In the Name field on the General page, type the name for the group.
14. Optional: In the Description field, type a description for the group.
15. Click Next.
16. On the Membership page, select one or more user accounts to belong to this
new group. Click Next.
17. On the Summary page, verify the details of the group. If you need to make
changes, click Back.
18. When you are done editing the group, click Finish.

The group is saved and is displayed on the Groups page.

Setting asset information


You can configure asset information for a managed system, including information
about the system user, lease, and warranty; you also can provide data in up to five
user-defined fields. If you specify an end date for a lease or warranty, a warning
event is generated on that date.

Notes:

500 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. This template provides the function that was previously provided in earlier
versions of IBM Director by the Asset ID task.
2. This task is not supported if you have installed the IBM Systems Director 6.2.1
Tech Preview KVM Platform Agent for Linux on x86-64.

The information that you provide in this task is written to the EEPROM. For
systems that are not enabled for Enhanced Asset Information Area (EAIA), this
information is written to the asset.dat file in the data directory on the managed
system. The asset.dat file is deleted when IBM Systems Director is uninstalled.

The amount of information that you can store is limited. The task dynamically
calculates the amount of space that is remaining for storage and reports that
amount on each page.

The settings in this template are applied to the system by way of the Common
Agent or Platform Agent.

To set asset information, complete the following steps:


1. On the Configuration manager summary page, locate the Configuration tasks
section and click Create a configuration template.
2. On the Configuration Templates page, click Create.
3. In the Create Template window, select Stand-alone server from the Template
type list.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, select Asset ID.
5. Type a name in the Configuration template name field.
6. Optional: Type a description in the Configuration template description field.
7. Optional: If you want the template applied automatically, click Automatically
deploy this configuration template when notified of a matching resource.
8. Click Continue. The Asset ID Configuration page is displayed.
9. View the System page. This page displays the following information for the
managed system.

Note: When setting configuration information using a configuration template,


Remote deployment manager profile is the only field displayed. When
setting configuration information in real time and IBM Systems Director can
detect and communicate with the system, all of the following fields are
displayed.
System name
Displays the system name.
MAC address
Displays the message authentication code (MAC) address of the
system.
Operating system
Displays the operating system that the system is running.
System GUID
Displays the system globally unique identifier (GUID) of the system.
Remote deployment manager profile
Displays the Remote Deployment Manager (RDM) profile associated
with the system, if applicable.

Note: This field is the only field you can edit.


10. Optional: In the Remote deployment manager profile field, type the profile
name associated with the system.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 501


11. To set the user information, click the User tab. You can provide the following
information about the system user on the User page:
Name The name of the system user
Phone The phone number of the system user
Location
The location of the system user
Department
The department to which the system belongs
Position
The position held by the system user
12. To set the lease information, click the Lease tab. You can provide the following
information on the Lease page:
Lessor The name of the company from which you are leasing the system
Start date
The start date of the lease contract
End date
The end date of the lease contract

Note: If you specify an end date for the lease, a warning event is
generated when the lease ends.
Term The length in months of the contract
Lease rate factor (%)
A percentage that, when multiplied by the cost, gives the periodic
lease payment amount
Payment
The amount of money that results from multiplying the value by the
cost, lease rate factor, and term
Buyout
The amount of money required to purchase the leased property at the
end of the lease term
Future market value
The price a buyer will pay a seller for the leased property, as is
13. To set the asset information, click the Asset tab. You can provide the following
information on the Asset page:
Purchase date
The date the system was purchased
Last inventoried
The date the system was last inventoried
Asset number
The asset number assigned to the managed system

Note: If the system has a radio-frequency identification (RFID) number and


the system is detected and in communication with IBM Systems Director
Server, the RFID number is displayed on this page.
14. To configure custom data fields, click the Personalization tab. You can provide
custom information in up to five user-defined fields on the Personalization
page.
15. To configure warranty information, click the Warranty tab. You can provide
the following information on the Warranty page:
Duration
Accepts the length of the warranty, in days, months, or years
Cost Accepts the cost of the warranty
End date
Accepts the date that the warranty expires

502 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: If you specify an end date for the warranty, a warning event is
generated when warranty expires.
The information that you specify on the Warranty page is collected during an
inventory collection. Use the View Inventory task to view the collected
information. You can manage the warranty information by creating a dynamic
group.
16. Click Save to save the changes in the configuration template. If you are
updating the configuration in real time, click Deploy.

Important: If you close this page without clicking Save, no changes are made
to the template and the information that you entered is lost.
17. Optional: To return to the Templates page, click Cancel.

Chapter 10. Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 503


504 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 11. Managing IBM Power Systems
IBM Systems Director provides specific tasks that can help you manage Power
Systems and platform managers such as the Hardware Management Console
(HMC) and the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM).

IBM Power Systems can all be completely managed by IBM Systems Director with
capabilities such as discovery, inventory, status, monitoring, power management,
and the functionality available with update manager, automation manager, and
virtualization manager.

IBM Systems Director can manage the following IBM Power environments that
might include POWER5 and POWER6 processor-based servers running AIX, IBM i
(formerly i5/OS), or Linux:
v Power Systems managed by the Hardware Management Console
v Power Systems managed by the Integrated Virtualization Manager
v A Power Systems server with a single image (a nonpartitioned configuration)
v A Power Architecture BladeCenter server under the control of a BladeCenter
management module

IBM Systems Director gives you an overall understanding of the Hardware


Management Consoles and Integrated Virtualization Managers in your
environment, as well as the hosts they manage and their associated virtual servers
(logical partitions). You can access and manage the logical partitions as you would
any other managed system.

In addition, IBM Systems Director provides a launch-in-context feature to access


additional tasks that are available from the Hardware Management Console and
the Integrated Virtualization Manager. From IBM Systems Director, you can also
access IBM i management tasks, as well as AIX management tasks.

For additional information about managing the virtualization and consolidation on


Power systems using IBM Systems Director, see the Managing IBM Power Servers
with IBM Systems Director 6.1 white paper on the Web at: www.ibm.com/
common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=SA&subtype=WH
&appname=STGE_PO_PO_USEN&htmlfid=POW03011USEN
&attachment=POW03011USEN.PDF

New terms for Power Systems users in IBM Systems Director


IBM Systems Director introduces some terms that might be new to a Power
Systems user. Use this topic to understand new terms for familiar tasks and
concepts.

The following table lists terms used in IBM Systems Director, maps them to any
similar terms that exist in a Power Systems environment, and provides a definition
for the terms.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 505


Power Systems term or
IBM Systems Director term concept Definition
host server, system, managed A physical server that
system contains physical processors,
memory, and I/O resources
and which is often
virtualized into virtual
servers, also known as
logical partitions.
virtual server logical partition, partition The collection of processor,
memory and I/O resources
defined to run an operating
system and its applications.
utility virtual server Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) A virtual server that provide
virtualization capabilities for
a particular environment.
platform manager Hardware Management A platform manager
Console (HMC) and manages one or more hosts
Integrated Virtualization and their associated virtual
Manager (IVM) servers and operating
systems. For Power Systems,
the platform managers are
HMC and IVM.
power on activate (partition) Power Systems managed by
HMC and IVM, use the term
power on with respect to a
physical server or host. IBM
Systems Director uses the
same term, power on, for
virtual servers, where Power
Systems has used the term
activate.
power off shut down (partition) Power Systems managed by
HMC and IVM, use the term
power off with respect to a
physical server or host. IBM
Systems Director uses the
same term, power off, for
virtual servers, where Power
Systems has used the term
shut down.
live relocation partition mobility, Live Moving a running virtual
Partition Mobility server from one host to
another
static relocation inactive partition mobility, Moving a virtual server that
inactive mobility is powered off from one host
to another.
virtual farm N/A A virtual farm logically
groups like hosts and
facilitates the relocation task.

506 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Managing Power Systems running AIX
IBM Systems Director provides a set of AIX management tasks that use
launch-in-context functionality to start the requested task in the IBM Systems
Director Console for AIX.

To utilize the features available in IBM Systems Director Console for AIX, you
must be running AIX, Version 6.1.0 or later.

Note: To access the AIX management tasks, ensure that you meet the following
requirements:
v You must have SMAdministrator authority for IBM Systems Director.
v You must have requested access to the AIX system, and configured credentials. If
the Access column for the AIX managed system lists something other than OK,
check these items to proceed with AIX management tasks.

For more information about the AIX tasks that you can perform, see the AIX
information in the IBM Systems Information Center.

To perform AIX management tasks, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the AIX system where you want to perform a management task.
3. Select the system, click Actions from the menu bar, and select AIX
Management > task_name, where task_name indicates the task that you want to
perform.
4. A new browser window opens to display the IBM Systems Director Console for
AIX set to the task that you want to perform.
Related reference

AIX Information Center

Managing Power Systems running IBM i


IBM Systems Director provides a fully integrated set of IBM i (formerly i5/OS)
management tasks as part of the Power Systems Management functionality.

IBM Systems Director enables you to complete many IBM i management tasks in
the following categories:
v Basic Operations
v Configuration and Service
v Database
v File Systems
v Integrated Server Administration
v Internet Configurations
v Journal Management
v Network
v Performance
v Security
v System
v Users and groups
v Work Management

Chapter 11. Managing IBM Power Systems 507


Note: To access these tasks, you must have requested access to the IBM i system,
and configured credentials. If the Access column for the IBM i managed system
lists something other than OK, check these items to proceed with IBM i
management tasks.

To access these management tasks, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to a managed system running IBM i. Make sure it is at Version 5
Release 4 or later.
3. Select the managed system running IBM i, click Actions from the menu bar,
and select i5/OS Management > task category where task category is the
category that includes the task you want to perform.
Related reference

IBM i Information Center

Managing systems controlled by HMC and IVM


In addition to the ability to perform management tasks on systems that are under
the control of Hardware Management Console (HMC) and Integrated
Virtualization Manager, IBM Systems Director provides launch-in-context capability
to extended tasks that are available in the HMC and IVM interfaces.

You can use IBM Systems Director to perform a variety of management tasks on
systems that are under the control of HMC or IVM:
v Power management
v Creating virtual servers (logical partitions)
v Editing virtual server resources
v Relocating virtual servers between host systems

IBM Systems Director also includes a considerable amount of extended tasks that
are available in the HMC or IVM interfaces, and accessible by IBM Systems
Director through launch-in-context functionality. The following list includes some
examples of extended tasks that can be accessed in the HMC and IVM interfaces:
v Update Licensed Internal Code
v Work with system plans
v Manage TCP/IP settings
v Manage user profiles
v Manage serviceable events
v Manage Capacity On Demand
v Modify logical partition settings

Note: You should discover and manage an HMC from only one management
server. Managing an HMC from multiple management servers can cause
performance problems due to the amount of memory that is required.

Complete the following steps to start extended tasks in the HMC or IVM
interfaces:

Note: Ensure that you have requested access to your HMC or IVM, and that the
access status is displayed as Full Access or OK.
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.

508 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. Click Group by System Type.
3. Click Power Systems.
4. Complete one of the following steps:
v To access HMC Management tasks:
a. Click HMC and Managed Power Systems Servers.
b. Select the HMC from which you want to perform the task, click Actions
> HMC Management, and select the task category that you want to
access.
c. The HMC interface will open in a new window, where you can perform
the task.
v To access IVM Management tasks:
a. Click IVM and Managed Power Systems Servers.
b. Select the IVM from which you want to perform the task, click Actions >
IVM Management, and select the task category that you want to access.
c. The IVM interface will open in a new window, where you can perform
the task.

Viewing the Power Systems Management summary


You can view a summary of the resources managed by IBM Power Systems and
their status. You can also access common management tasks for managing your
Power Systems resources. Note that information on this page is refreshed
automatically when there are any changes.

To view the Power Systems Management summary, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click Manage, scroll to the Power Systems Management
portion of the page, and click the Power Systems Management section heading.
The Power Systems Management summary is displayed.
3. View the Power Systems Resource Status section. This section provides the
following information:
v A pie chart and corresponding list that indicate the number of virtual servers
with the following types of status:

Critical

Warning

Informational

OK
v Links to the following tasks that you can use to view and manage your
resources:
– Health summary
– Event log

Chapter 11. Managing IBM Power Systems 509


– Problems
4. View the Manage Resources section. This section provides the following
information:
v The number of platform managers
– The number of Hardware Management Console platform managers
– The number of Integrated Virtualization Manager platform managers
v The number of Power Systems hosts (physical servers)
– The number of Power Systems servers
– The number of Power Systems BladeCenter servers
v The number of virtual servers (logical partitions) by logical partition type
– The number of AIX/Linux virtual servers
– The number of IBM i virtual servers
– The number of Virtual I/O Server virtual servers
v The number of operating systems
– The number of AIX operating systems
– The number of Linux operating systems
– The number of IBM i operating systems
– The number of Virtual I/O Server operating systems
v Links to the following tasks that you can use to get started with Power
Systems Management:
– System discovery
– Monitors
– Thresholds
– Check for updates
– Create virtual server
– BladeCenter management
– System Planning Tool

Monitoring for IBM i message queue events


To monitor for IBM i message queue events, create a customized event filter for
use in your event automation plans.

To create the event automation plan, complete the following steps:


1. 1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, expand Automation and click
Event Automation Plans.
2. On the Event Automation Plans page, click Create. The Create Event
Automation Plan wizard is displayed.
3. On the Welcome page, click Next.
4. On the Name and description page, type a descriptive name for the event
automation plan that you are creating. Optionally, you also can type a
description of the plan. Click Next.
5. On the Targets page, select the systems that the event automation plan will
monitor for the configuration manager events. Select the systems in the
Available list and click Add > to move them to the Selected list. Click Next.
6. On the Events page, select Advanced event filters from the Events list.
7. Click Create to create a new event filter. The Create Event Filter wizard is
displayed.
8. On the Welcome page, click Next.
9. On the Filter Name page, type a name and description for the event filter,
then click Next. Although it is not required, a description does help you sort
and manage your event filters.

510 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


10. On the Filter Type page, select Simple Event Filter from the Filter type list,
then click Next.
11. On the IBM i Event Type page, specify the IBM System i messages that you
want to include.
a. Type each message that you want to include.

Note: Use the following format: library/message_queue.messageID

where
v library is the library for the event monitor
v message_queue is the message queue for the event monitor
v messageID (optional) is the ID of the event monitor
The IBM i.Message Queue field automatically provides the common
message queue event prefix, which is OS/400.msgq. You type only the
unique portion of the message queue event. Consider the following
examples that assume the library is QSYS and the message queue is
QSYSOPR:
v To specify all message IDs, type QSYS/QSYSOPR
v To specify a message ID of CPF1234, type QSYS/QSYSOPR.CPF1234
v To specify any message ID that starts with the characters CPF, type
QSYS/QSYSOPR. Then, on the Event Text page, specify that you want to
look for the characters CPF. For more information on the Event Text
page, see step 14
b. Click Add to add the message to the list of Selected IBM i event types
c. When you are finished adding messages, click Next.
12. On the Severity and Category page, specify the severities and categories that
you want to include, then click Next. Select Default to include events of all
severities and categories. Select Custom to specify one or more severities and
categories.
13. On the Event Sender page, you can add any specific event senders that you
want to include in the filter. The filter is triggered when a specified sender
generates an event that you included in the filter.
a. Select a sender from the Systems list, then click Add to add it to the
Selected senders list.
b. To add a sender that does not appear in the Systems list, type the name of
the sender in the Additional sender field, then click Add.
c. When you are finished adding senders, click Next.

Important: Remember to update any specified sender name if you rename


the associated resource (the sender). When a managed resource is renamed,
IBM Systems Director does not automatically update the associated sender
name in an event filter. Renaming the resource without updating the event
filter results in a mismatch between the sender name that is specified in
the event filter and the sender name that is specified in the incoming
event. The mismatch in sender names causes any event action plan that
includes the filter to fail.
14. On the Event Text page, specify the event text that you want to include in the
filter, then click Next.
v Select Default to include all event text.

Chapter 11. Managing IBM Power Systems 511


v Select Custom to specify a word, separate words, or a phrase that you want
to include in the filter. The filter is triggered by only those events that you
include in the filter that also contain the specified text.
15. On the Time Range page, specify when you want events to trigger the filter,
then click Next.
v Select All so that the filter is triggered any time that included events occur.
v Select Custom to specify that the filter is triggered only when included
events occur on a particular day of the week or within an identified time
range.
16. On the Summary page review your settings. If you want to modify any
settings, click Back to make changes. When you are satisfied with the event
filter, click Finish to save it. The new event filter is displayed on the Events
page.
17. On the Events page, select the new event filter, then click Next.
18. On the Event actions page, select one or more actions, or click Create to create
a new event action. These instructions assume you want to create a new event
action.
19. In the Create Action window, select an event action, for example, Send an
e-mail (Internet SMTP) .
20. Click OK.
21. Complete the fields for the event action that you selected. For some event
action types, you can include event-specific information as part of the text
message. Including event information is referred to as event-data substitution.
You can use event-data-substitution variables to customize event actions. For
more information, see “Event-data-substitution variables.”
22. When you are satisfied with the settings, click OK.
23. Select one or more event actions, then click Next.
24. On the Time range page, choose the period of time over which you want to
collect the events, then click Next. Select All the time (24 x 7) so that the plan
is active all the time. Select Custom to specify a particular day of the week or
a time range during which the plan is active.
25. On the Summary page, verify the details of the event automation plan. If you
need to make changes, click < Back. When you are done editing the event
automation plan, click Finish.

The event automation plan is saved and is displayed in the Event Automation
Plans page.

Managing power state settings on IBM Power systems


Support for the Power On/Off task is provided by the operating systems on IBM
Power systems.

Power On/Off task support by way of the operating system on


IBM Power systems
Support for the Power On/Off task is provided by the operating system on IBM
Power systems. Whether you have Platform Agent or Common Agent installed on
the system can also affect the support.

See the following table for more information.

512 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 43. Power-state-setting support by operating systems on IBM Power systems
Power settings
Operating system supported
1
v AIX Version 5.2 Yes
v IBM AIX Version 5.3 Yes2
v IBM AIX Version 6.1
v Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, versions 4.6, 4.7, on IBM Power
Systems
v Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform, versions 5.1
and 5.2, on IBM Power Systems
v SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 on IBM Power Systems
(supports Service Packs 3 and 4)
v SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 on IBM Power Systems
(supports Service Packs 1 and 2)

1. Power On/Off and Restart is supported on IBM Director Agent version 5.20 and
Agentless systems.
2. Power On/Off and Restart support provided for Agentless-, Platform Agent-, or
Common Agent-managed systems.

Note: Power On/Off and Restart support is also provided for Integrated
Virtualization Manager and Virtual I/O Server.

Changing the power state on IBM Power systems


Use the Power On/Off tasks to remotely restart a server in your
systems-management environment. For more information, see “Power On/Off task
support by way of the operating system on IBM Power systems.”

You must have access to the system to change the power state. For information
about requesting access to a system, see “Requesting access to a secured system.”

To change the power state, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the system on which you want to change the power state.
3. View the Access column to make sure that you can access the system. If Access
is set to No Access, you must request access to the system.
4. Right-click the system and click Power On/Off. Then click the power state you
want to invoke. Depending on the feature that IBM Systems Director uses for
power management on the affected system, you can set the power to Power
On, Power Off, Restart, Restart Now, or Shutdown.
5. In the Run window, click OK to change the power state immediately. You also
can schedule this task to run at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”

Chapter 11. Managing IBM Power Systems 513


514 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 12. Managing IBM System z systems
IBM Systems Director provides the capability to discover System z systems and
their associated virtual servers, and to access status information about them.

System z virtualization
This topic provides information about the System z virtualization technologies.

System z provides two layers of virtualization:


System z LPAR hypervisor
A virtualization technology built into the System z hardware. With the
LPAR hypervisor, you can divide a System z mainframe into logical
partitions (LPARs). Each LPAR is assigned a dedicated portion of the
available physical memory (central storage, in System z terminology).
Storage devices, I/O channels, and processors can be shared across LPARs
or dedicated to a particular LPAR.
You can use the Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL) feature of the System z
hardware to set up LPARs that are restricted to Linux workloads. Such
LPARs have processors that cannot run operating systems other than Linux
and z/VM.
z/VM A System z operating system that acts as virtualization software. z/VM can
run in an LPAR. z/VM can virtualize all system resources, including
processors, memory, storage devices, and communication devices.
With z/VM, you can run hundreds of operating system instances
concurrently, all on the same System z hardware.

You can use a number of LPARs to concurrently run multiple instances of z/VM
while other LPARs run other mainframe operating systems. Each z/VM can run a
multitude of mainframe operating systems, including instances of z/VM itself.

Basics about the z/VM operating system


This topic gives a brief introduction to the z/VM operating system and provides a
reference for further information.

For more detailed information about the z/VM operating system, see the "z/VM
PDF files" at the z/VM library.

The z/VM control program

A core component of the z/VM operating system is the control program (CP). CP
is a virtualization layer that runs on the System z machine architecture and
efficiently provides multiple independent simulated System z machines known as
virtual servers (also known as virtual machines in z/VM terminology). Any program
that can run natively on a System z machine, such as an operating system, can
instead be run in a virtual server. To such a program, the virtual server appears to
be real System z hardware. The resources (processors, memory, I/O devices, and so
on) of each virtual server are provided by CP, using a fraction of the real hardware
resources. Each virtual server has a unique identifier called the user ID.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 515


An operating system running in a virtual server is called a guest operating system.
Users of a guest operating system typically use that operating system in the same
manner as if it were running natively on a System z machine.

Figure 1 shows several virtual servers running guest operating systems and the
virtual resources provided to them by CP.

Figure 26. z/VM virtual servers

The z/VM user directory

z/VM uses the z/VM user directory to keep track of its virtual servers. For each
virtual server, there is a directory entry with a number of statements that define its
characteristics.

For example, the directory entry defines the processing power, memory size
(virtual storage, in z/VM terminology), disk access permissions and other
privileges.

The directory is well-protected from general access. There are predefined z/VM
users that are privileged to perform administrative functions. Maintaining the
directory is among the tasks that require the highest privilege level in the z/VM
operating system. Many installations use a security manager in addition to this
built-in security.

Optionally, a program called a directory manager can be used to maintain the


directory. One such directory manager is Directory Maintenance Facility
(DirMaint™), an optional component of z/VM.

Service machines

z/VM includes a number of service machines. Service machines are virtual servers
that provide specific services to other virtual servers. For example, there are service
machines that run programs required for communications or printing. Like any
other virtual server, a service machine is identified by the user ID.

The Systems Management Application Programming Interface

The Systems Management Application Programming Interface (API) is a facility in


z/VM that allows programs to perform a range of systems management functions
through one consistent interface. This interface has a client-server architecture in
which these programs are clients that communicate with a server that is provided
by z/VM. For more information, refer to z/VM Systems Management Application
Programming, SC24-6122.

516 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Virtual networking

z/VM allows for a multitude of methods for communication between a guest


operating system and another guest operating system of the same z/VM, an
operating system instance elsewhere on the same System z mainframe, or a
networked operating system that runs on separate hardware. For a comprehensive
description of z/VM communications refer to z/VM Connectivity, SC24-6080.

This section briefly introduces four methods that are particularly relevant to Linux
as a guest operating system:
v Direct connections from the z/VM virtual servers to an Open Systems Adapter
(OSA) card
v Guest LAN
v Virtual switch
v HiperSockets™

You can set up a virtual connection from each virtual server to an OSA card. The
OSA card provides a connection to a LAN outside the System z mainframe. All
virtual servers that are connected to the same OSA card can also communicate
with one another. Connecting in this context does not involve physical cables but
means issuing commands that define virtual connections.

Figure 27. z/VM virtual servers directly connected to an OSA card

You can also define a guest LAN. A guest LAN is a virtual LAN, emulated by the
z/VM operating system. Because a guest LAN does not use physical cables and is
contained entirely within the mainframe, it is fast and, if configured correctly,
highly secure.

Figure 28. z/VM virtual servers connected to a guest LAN

Chapter 12. Managing IBM System z systems 517


If you want to provide your virtual servers with a connection outside the z/VM
operating system, you can include a TCP/IP router in your guest LAN. The router
can be a virtual server with a Linux instance as the guest operating system or it
can be a TCPIP service machine.

You can also use a virtual switch to connect your virtual servers. Like a guest
LAN, a virtual switch does not use physical cables and can provide a fast and
highly secure connection.

Figure 29. z/VM virtual servers connected to a virtual switch

You can also connect your z/VM virtual servers using HiperSockets. Like a guest
LAN, HiperSockets provide a fast and secure network within the mainframe.

Linux Linux Linux Linux Linux


router

z/VM z/VM
LPAR A LPAR B

Hardware layer HiperSockets


OSA
System z9 or zSeries
LAN

Figure 30. z/VM virtual servers connected to a HiperSockets network

With HiperSockets you can span multiple LPARs on the same mainframe.
Related reference

z/VM PDF files

z/VM manageability access point and agent


Common Information Model (CIM) is a standard related to systems management
defined by the Distributed Management Task Force. The z/VM manageability
access point is a virtual server (also known as a virtual machine in z/VM
terminology) that provides a CIM-based interface for managing z/VM.

The z/VM manageability access point is a managed resource that can be


discovered by IBM Systems Director. Each z/VM system that is to be managed by
IBM Systems Director must have exactly one manageability access point.

The manageability access point contains a Linux guest operating system with the
following IBM Systems Director components installed:

518 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Platform Agent
v z/VM Manageability Access Point Agent

The manageability access point uses the z/VM Systems Management API. The
Systems Management API server must be enabled and available.

Viewing the System z Management summary page


You can view a summary of the resources managed by System z and their status.
You can also access common management tasks for managing your System z
resources. Note that information on this page is refreshed automatically when there
are any changes.

To view the System z summary, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click Manage, scroll to the System z Management
portion of the page, and click the System z Management section heading. The
System z Management summary is displayed.
3. View the System z Resource Status section. This section provides the following
information:
v A pie chart and corresponding list that indicate the number of System z
resources with the following types of status:

Critical

Warning

Informational

OK
v Links to the following common views that you can use to manage your
System z resources:
– Health summary
– Event log
– Problems
4. View the Manage Resources section. This section provides the following
information:
v System z Resources
– The number of System z platforms
– The number of HMCs and System z servers
– The number of z/VM hosts
– The number of z/VM virtual servers
– The number of z/VM manageability access points
v Operating Systems
– The number of Linux on System z
v Links to the following tasks that you can use to get started with System z
Management:

Chapter 12. Managing IBM System z systems 519


– System discovery
– Monitors
– Thresholds
– Check for updates
– Set up z/VM manageability access points

Discovering systems and collecting inventory data for System z


In a System z environment, you can use IBM Systems Director to discover and
collect inventory data on the following types of resources: Linux on System z
servers, systems running the IBM z/VM Manageability Access Point Agent, and
the Hardware Management Console.
Linux on System z servers
Use IBM Systems Director to discover and request access to Linux on
System z servers, which are virtual servers associated with the z/VM
hypervisor or servers within System z logical partitions. For a virtual
server to be discovered, it must have an IP address and it must be running.
After IBM Systems Director discovers and requests access to a virtual
server, you can collect inventory to obtain additional information about the
virtual servers. The type of inventory information collected depends on
whether the system is an Agentless managed system, Platform Agent
managed system, or Common Agent managed system.
Systems running the IBM z/VM Manageability Access Point Agent
After IBM Systems Director discovers and requests access to a system
running the IBM z/VM Manageability Access Point Agent, you can view
information about the following resources:
v The Linux server in which the IBM z/VM Manageability Access Point
Agent is running
v The z/VM operating system
v The virtual servers defined for the z/VM system
After requesting access to the IBM z/VM Manageability Access Point
Agent, IBM Systems Director continues the discovery process for all the
virtual servers that are associated with the z/VM system. When virtual
servers are discovered, they are displayed in the Web interface.
After IBM Systems Director collects inventory on the IBM z/VM
Manageability Access Point Agent, you can view information about the
resources associated with the virtual servers defined on the z/VM system.
For example, you can view information about resources such as memory,
processors, network ports, and logical volumes.

Note: Inventory collection on the IBM z/VM Manageability Access Point


Agent can take a long time. It is recommended that you run inventory
collection on an IBM z/VM Manageability Access Point Agent no more
than once or twice per day.
Hardware Management Console
If the Hardware Management Console is running Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) version 1 (v1) and a public profile, you can
use the IP addresses to have the System Discovery task discover the
System z physical servers that are managed by the HMC. However, if the
HMC is not running SNMP v1 and a public profile, then you must create a
discovery profile to discover the physical systems managed by the HMC.

520 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Managing power state settings for Linux on System z servers
Support for the Power On/Off task is provided by the operating systems on
System z servers.

Power On/Off task support by way of the operating system on


System z servers
Support for the Power On/Off task is provided by the operating system on System
z servers.

If either Platform Agent or Common Agent is installed, the Restart setting is


supported by the following operating systems:
v Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, version 4.0, for IBM System z
v Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, version 5.0, for IBM System z
v SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 for IBM System z
v SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for IBM System z

Changing the power state on System z servers


Use the Power On/Off tasks to remotely restart a server in your
systems-management environment. For more information, see “Power On/Off task
support by way of the operating system on System z servers.”

You must have access to the system to change the power state. For information
about requesting access to a system, see “Requesting access to a secured system.”

To change the power state, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources.
2. Navigate to the system on which you want to change the power state.
3. View the Access column to make sure that you can access the system. If Access
is set to No Access, you must request access to the system.
4. Right-click the system and click Power On/Off. Then click the power state you
want to invoke. Depending on the feature that IBM Systems Director uses for
power management on the affected system, you can set the power to Power
On, Power Off, Restart, Restart Now, or Shutdown.
5. In the Run window, click OK to change the power state immediately. You also
can schedule this task to run at a later time. For more information, see
“Scheduling tasks.”

Chapter 12. Managing IBM System z systems 521


522 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage
IBM Systems Director provides facilities to manage and configure storage devices,
such as disks, switches, internal RAID controllers, and RAID subsystems. This
includes the use of IBM Systems Director features, SMI-S providers, and external
storage applications.

Storage management in real time and using configuration templates


Storage is managed in two ways: in real time and with the use of configuration
templates. When managing storage in real time, changes become effective
immediately, or in some cases at the next restart if a restart is required to have the
changes take effect. When managing storage using configuration templates, you are
creating configuration templates that contain storage device definitions, but no
storage device is configured or altered. A configuration template must be deployed
in order to have its definitions take effect.

Many of the panels and their fields used to manage storage are similar whether
you are working with an actual storage device or a configuration template. When
providing detailed information about storage devices, you must be aware whether
you are changing a configuration template that can be used to deploy to the
storage device, or a making changes to the device itself in real time.

When working with a storage device in real time, the storage device is active and
connectivity to the device has been established. Also, the device has been
discovered and the system that the device is attached to is not locked or otherwise
unavailable. Changes made to the storage device, as it is displayed in the various
IBM Systems Director panels, become effective immediately when you click Apply
or Deploy. The device definitions are called configuration settings.

When working with configuration templates, you are providing definitions that
can be deployed on a storage device at some point in the future. Changes made in
the various IBM Systems Director panels, are really made to a configuration
template that contains the device definitions. When you click Save, the
configuration template is updated with your changes, but no storage device is
affected. If you want a configuration template to be deployed to a storage device,
you must do one of these things:
v Set up a configuration template or configuration plan to be automatically deploy,
which will then deploy when a device that matches it is discovered by IBM
Systems Director.
v Deploy the configuration template by selecting it from any panel that displays it,
and click Actions > Deploy.

Managing SMI-S providers


To use SMI-S providers with IBM Systems Director, you must install and configure
them. They are needed only for some devices.

SMI-S providers for IBM Systems Director


SMI-S providers must be installed and configured before IBM Systems Director can
manage certain storage devices.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 523


Note: Installing the SMI-S providers on systems where the IBM Systems Director
Server or any agents are installed is not supported. This restriction does not apply
to providers that come preinstalled on the server.

An SMI-S provider is a vendor-specific module that is used so that independent


management software, such as IBM Systems Director, can manage a vendor device
using a standard interface based on the Common Information Model (CIM)

protocol.

IBM Systems Director recognizes certain storage devices that comply with the
Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). SMI-S is an industry standard
developed by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). IBM Systems
Director supports SMI-S versions 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3.

IBM Systems Director communicates with the storage devices through their
respective SMI-S providers. Their Service Location Protocol (SLPv2) component
enables the devices to be discovered by IBM Systems Director, which looks for
SNIA-defined SLP service types. IBM Systems Director obtains information about
storage devices through the Common Information Model Object Manager
(CIMOM) component of the SMI-S provider. Communication occurs using the
Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) standard for Web Based Enterprise
Management (WBEM) as required by SNIA. The information is organized
according to the DMTF standard for the Common Information Model (CIM) using
the profiles defined by SNIA.

When multiple SMI-S providers are installed on the same system, only one can use
the default port number. The other providers must be configured during
installation or be set up to use an alternate port number. When you add a storage
device whose provider is using an alternate port number to the IBM Systems
Director environment, you must specify the port number.

The default port number for the SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS
RAID Controller Module is displayed as 5988 regardless of what operating system
hosts the SMI-S provider. However, when this SMI-S provider is running on Linux,
the default port number is really 15988, and you must change the value to 15988 in
order to use the default port on Linux.

524 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


A storage provider is a module that performs the same tasks as an SMI-S provider,
but is not SMI-S compliant.

Storage devices that require an SMI-S provider


These storage devices require an SMI-S provider in order to work with IBM
Systems Director.
v IBM System Storage DS6000 devices
v IBM System Storage N series N3600 devices
v IBM TotalStorage DS4000 devices
v IBM TotalStorage DS5000 devices
v IBM TotalStorage DS3000 devices
v Brocade 2G/4G Fibre Channel (IBM BladeCenter chassis and external)

For the Qlogic 4 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel (IBM BladeCenter chassis and external)
switch, the storage provider is embedded in the switch. There is no need to install
or configure anything. When asked for the IP address of the SMI-S provider, use
the IP address of the switch itself.

Integrated RAID Controller devices use the IBM Systems Director Platform Agent
managed system. Run Inventory Collection on the Agent to get the Integrated
RAID Controller.

The IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module requires an SMI-S provider
in order for IBM Systems Director to discover and manage the attached SAS RAID
Controller Module storage. This provider is installed automatically with IBM
Systems Director Server on supported operating systems. This provider has one of
the following names:
v PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.1.0
Linux
v PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.1.0
Windows

The provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module can work
with a maximum of four IBM BladeCenter chassis. This provider can be copied to
Platform Agent managed systems if the need arises, and each of these Platform
Agent managed systems can also manage a maximum of four IBM BladeCenter
chassis.

To learn more about storage device support, see this infocenter topic: Supported
Storage devices.

Applicable standards

For information about the standards mentioned here, see these Web sites:
SMI-S https://www.snia.org/smi/about/
SNIA https://www.snia.org
DMTF
www.dmtf.org
WBEM
www.dmtf.org/standards/wbem/
CIM www.dmtf.org/standards/cim

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 525


Where to obtain SMI-S providers
Use the following information to obtain SMI-S providers for any IBM TotalStorage
DS3000, DS4000, DS5000, orDS6000 devices, and IBM System Storage N series
N3600 devices. You can also use the information to obtain providers for various
switches used to manage storage devices.
IBM TotalStorage DS3000, DS4000, or DS5000
The SANtricity SMI Provider from LSI that complies with SMI-S version
1.3 is required to enable discovery of IBM System Storage DS3000, DS4000,
or DS5000 devices. You can obtain this provider from the LSI Web site at
http://www.lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/external_raid/
management_software/smi_provider_new/index.html. It is recommended
to use the 10.10.G5.02 version of this provider for this version of IBM
Systems Director. Any other version might not function as well.

Note: You can manually add an IBM System Storage DS3000, DS4000, or
DS5000 device using IBM Systems Director. To manually add those devices,
specify the IP address of the system where you installed the SANtricity
SMI Provider, not the IP address of the IBM System Storage DS3000,
DS4000, or DS5000 device itself.
IBM TotalStorage DS6000
To obtain the provider for the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 storage device, go
to the IBM System Storage support Web page. It is recommended to use
the 5.2.1.139 version of this provider for this version of IBM Systems
Director. Any other version might not function as well.
IBM System Storage N series N3600
You can obtain the provider for the IBM System Storage N series N3600
from this Web site: http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/
supportsite.wss/selectproduct?taskind=2&brandind=5000029
&familyind=5364792&continue.x=1 It is recommended to use the 3.0.2
version of this provider for this version of IBM Systems Director. Any
other version might not function as well.
Brocade switches
You can obtain the appropriate SMI-S version 1.2 provider for IBM Systems
Director from this Web site: www.brocade.com/support/SMIAGENT.jsp. It
is recommended to use the 120.10.x version of this provider for this version
of IBM Systems Director. Any other version might not function as well.
Qlogic switches
There is no need to obtain an SMI-S provider for the Qlogic switches. The
SMI-S provider is embedded in the switch.

Installing SMI-S Providers


IBM Systems Director requires SMI-S 1.1 or later providers to enable discovery of
those devices.

The SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module is
installed by default when the IBM Systems Director Server is installed. However,
discovery needs to be run for the IBM Systems Director Server, and it must be
unlocked in order to use this SMI-S provider.

Note: Installing the SMI-S providers on systems where the IBM Systems Director
Server or any agents are installed is not supported. This restriction does not apply
to providers that come preinstalled on the server.

526 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To install an SMI-S provider, complete the following steps:
1. Obtain and install the needed SMI-S provider onto a computer system in the
IBM Systems Director environment. For more information about how to obtain
SMI-S providers, see “Where to obtain SMI-S providers”.
2. Register the SMI-S provider with IBM Systems Director. Using System
Discovery, specify the IP address or host name of the system. The discovery
process uses SLP to locate the provider and query the relevant attributes.
3. Unlock the SMI-S provider, which requires a user ID and password.
4. After the SMI-S provider is unlocked, the storage devices that are being
managed by that provider become visible in IBM Systems Director as storage
systems.

Installing the SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS


RAID Controller Module on additional systems
the SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module is
installed automatically with the IBM Systems Director Server on supported
operating systems. There is a limitation that this SMI-S provider on any one system
can manage only four IBM BladeCenter chassis. In order to manage additional
chassis, you can install this SMI-S provider on additional compatible Platform
Agent managed systems, and have these systems also perform storage
management tasks.
v IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.1.0 (Linux or Windows) is
compatible with IBM Systems Director Platform Agent 5.20.31.
v IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.2.0 (Linux or Windows) is
compatible with IBM Systems Director Platform Agent 6.2.

The SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module has
one of these operating-system dependent names:
v PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.1.0
Linux
v PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.1.0
Windows
v PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.2.0
Linux
v PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module 6.2.0
Windows

Before installing the PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID


Controller Module 6.1.0 Linux or PlatformAgentSubagent IBM BladeCenter SAS
RAID Controller Module 6.1.0 Windows, ensure that you have already installed
5.20.31 Platform Agent on the managed system. It is possible to install the
subagent without this prerequisite, but the installation will complete with errors
and you will not be able to use the subagent.

In this discussion, the system that currently has the SMI-S provider for the IBM
BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module is called the source system and the
SMI-S provider on this system is called the source provider. The new system to
receive the provider is called the target system and the provider on it is called the
target provider. The source and target providers are identical software, but will be
configured to manage different storage systems.

To install the SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller
Module on another system, complete the following steps:

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 527


1. Select the target system in the Navigate Resources area. Note: Inventory
collection should be run on the target system before this step.
2. Click Actions > Release Management > Install Agent. The Install Agent
wizard is displayed.
3. In the Install Agent Wizard, choose the name of the SMI-S provider.

Important: You can only install an SMI-S provider on a compatible platform


agent. Incompatible installations will either fail or will not work.
4. Verify that the correct target system is selected.
5. Click Run. The installation of the SMI-S provider onto the target system starts
to run.
6. Wait for this process to complete.
7. Configure the target provider so that it will manage some of the storage
systems formerly managed by the source provider.
8. Configure the installed provider by following these steps:
a. Wait 5-7 minutes after installation, then rediscover the system.
b. The system will be partially locked, and you must request access again.
c. Follow the steps in this topic for instructions: “Configuring the SMI-S
provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module” on page
531.
9. If necessary, repeat these steps for additional target systems, until the source
system has a more reasonable workload.

If it is necessary to undo this task, you must manually remove the SMI-S provider
from the target system, and then configure the source provider to again manage
the storage systems that the target provider was managing.

Installing the LSI ESG SMI-S provider on Windows systems


The LSI ESG SMI-S provider is needed to manage IBM TotalStorage DS3000,
DS4000, and DS5000 storage systems. Use these instructions to install the LSI ESG
SMI-S provider on Windows systems.

To install the LSI ESG SMI-S provider on Windows systems, complete the
following steps:
1. Download the latest SMI-S provider for DS3000, DS4000, and DS5000 from the
supplier. See this Web site: LSI Storage Downloads.
2. Extract the downloaded files and run the installation file. The InstallAnywhere
welcome page opens. Complete the installation wizard.
v On the “Create/Edit ArrayHosts.txt file” page, enter the IP addresses of
controllers in the IBM TotalStorage storage system. Your storage system
might have one or more controllers. Be sure to enter the IP address of every
controller.
3. Follow these steps to enable authentication: “Enabling Authentication for the
LSI ESG SMI-S provider” on page 532.

Installing the LSI ESG SMI-S provider on AIX and Linux systems
The LSI ESG SMI-S provider is needed to manage IBM TotalStorage DS3000,
DS4000, and DS5000 storage systems. Use these instructions to install the LSI ESG
SMI-S provider on AIX and Linux systems.
1. Download the appropriate version of the SMI-S provider from this Web site:
LSI SMI Provider - New (http://www.lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/
external_raid/management_software/smi_provider_new/index.html).

528 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. From the “LSI SMI Provider - New” Web page, view the appropriate Readme
file for installation instructions.
3. After the installation is finished, you must enable authentication.

Installing the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 SMI-S provider


Use these instructions to install and configure the SMI-S provider for IBM
TotalStorage DS6000 storage devices.

First, obtain this SMI-S provider from the supplier and unzip the files to a local
directory.

To install the SMI-S provider for the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 system, complete
the following steps:
1. Run Setup.exe from the W2003 directory. The Welcome page is displayed.
2. Read the Welcome page and then click Next. The Software License Agreement
page is displayed.
3. Read this page carefully.
4. Click I accept the terms in the license agreement.
5. Click Next. The Destination Directory page is displayed.
6. Click Next. The Server Communication Configuration page is displayed.
7. Click Next. The Configuration Parameters page is displayed.
8. Type the user ID and password that you want used to communicate with the
SMI-S provider.
9. Click Add. The Add New Device popup is displayed.
10. Type the following information about the Storage Manager Console:
a. Device Type - DS
b. IP Address - the IP address of the Storage Manager Console of the IBM
TotalStorage DS6000 storage system.
c. Optional: Alternate IP - An alternate IP address for the Storage Manager
Console.
d. User Name - The user ID to log in the Storage Manager Console.
e. Password - The password to log in the Storage Manager Console.
11. Click OK. The information just entered is displayed in the table on the
Configuration Parameters page.
12. Optional: Click Add to create another entry.
13. Optional: Highlight an entry and click Modify to change an existing entry.
14. Optional: Click Remove to delete an entry.
15. When this table is correct, click Next. The Install Preview page is displayed.
16. Verify the information on this page.
17. Optional: If anything is incorrect, click Back to return to previous pages and
make corrections.
18. Click Install. The installation process runs. When finished, the Installer -
Finish page is displayed.
19. Click Finish. This application terminates.

Installing and configuring the Brocade SMI-S provider and SLP


service
Use this procedure to install and configure the SMI-S provider associated with the
Brocade switch, and the SLP service associated with the Brocade switch.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 529


Installing and configuring the Brocade SMI-S provider:

Use this procedure to install and configure the SMI-S provider associated with the
Brocade switch. This switch connects to storage systems attached with the Brocade
2 Gbit/sec and 4 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel switches.

To install and configure the Brocade SMI-S provider, complete the following steps:
1. Run install.exe to start the installation wizard.
2. Complete the wizard.
a. On the “Proxy Connections Configuration” page, click Add. Enter these
values in the window that opens:
Proxy IP: The IP address of the Brocade switch
User name: The user ID used to access the Brocade switch
Password: The password used to access the Brocade switch
Protocol: RPC
No. of RPC Handles: 1
b. On the “Configuring and Starting as a Service” page, click Yes for Do you
want to start SMI Agent as a Service.
3. When the installation is complete, go to the next topic to install and configure
the SLP service.

Installing the SLP Service:

Use this procedure to install the SLP service . This provider is needed to use SLP
when running Discovery.

Make sure that you have installed and configured the Brocade SMI-S provider
before starting this task.

To install the SLP service, complete the following steps:


1. Stop the Brocade SMI Agent service by clicking Stop the service on the
Services (Local) page.
2. Open a command window.
3. Issue this command: cd root_install_directory\agent\bin where
root_install_directory is the full path name of the directory where Brocade SMI-S
provider is installed.
4. Issue this command: slpd -install. The message 'Service Location Protocol
installed' is displayed when the installation process completes.
5. Issue this command: slpd -start The message 'Service Location Protocol started'
is displayed.
6. Start the Brocade SMI Agent service by clicking Start the service on the
Services (Local) page.

Installing and configuring the IBM N series SMI-S provider on


Linux systems
The IBM System Storage N series SMI-S provider is needed to manage IBM System
Storage N series 3600 storage systems. Use these instructions to install the IBM N
series SMI-S provider on Linux systems.

First, obtain this SMI-S provider from the IBM Web site. For instructions, see
“Where to obtain SMI-S providers”.

530 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To install the IBM System Storage N series SMI-S provider on your Linux system,
complete the following steps.
1. From the directory where you placed the tar file, perform the following actions:
a. Extract the contents of the SMI-S provider tar file by using the tar xvf
./smisagent-<version>.tar command.
b. Install the provider in /usr/ws by running the ./install_smisproxy /usr
command. You can run the remaining commands from any directory.
2. Start the SLP daemon by using the /usr/ws/bin/slpdservice -start command.
3. Start the SMI-S provider server by running the /usr/ws/server/cserver/bin/
start_server command.
4. For each N series storage subsystem that the SMI-S provider is to manage, run
the /usr/ws/bin/smis <Linux server ID> <Linux server password> add <N
series host name or IP address> <N series userID> <N series password>
command.

You have installed, configured, and started the IBM System Storage N series SMI-S
provider.

Configuring SMI-S providers


SMI-S providers must be configured in order to work with your storage systems.
SMI-S providers are used to add or remove devices associated with the SMI-S
provider, from within IBM Systems Director.

Configuration information and requirements for specific SMI-S providers vary by


provider and release. They are found in the 'Readme' or similar files that ship with
the SMI-S provider. Read these files and set up your environment according to the
instructions. It is crucial for all of the specified requirements to be met, so that IBM
Systems Director can properly manage the storage devices.

Configuring the SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS


RAID Controller Module
The SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module must
be configured before it can be used.

On AIX systems, you must install the SMI-S provider before performing this task.
Follow the instructions in the “Installing SMI-S Providers” topic.

On Microsoft Windows and Linux systems, the SMI-S provider for the IBM
BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller Module is installed by default when the IBM
Systems Director Server is installed. However, discovery needs to be run for the
IBM Systems Director Server, and it must be unlocked in order to use this SMI-S
provider. To configure the SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID
Controller Module, complete the following steps:
1. Click Navigate Resources > Groups > Groups by System Type > Storage
Systems. A table of storage groups is displayed.
2. Select the group named SMI-S Providers.
3. Click Actions > View Members. A list of systems is displayed.
4. Select a system that hosts an SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS
RAID Controller Module.
5. Click Actions > System Configuration > SMI-S Provider Configuration. The
SMI-S Provider Configuration page is displayed.
6. Click Actions > Add Storage System.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 531


7. Choose one of these options:
v Click Select a Storage System that has already been discovered and click
Browse to see a list of existing, discovered IBM BladeCenter chassis.
v Click Enter storage system information manually and type the IP addresses
for the primary and secondary controllers.
8. Type the User ID and Password for the management port. The default User ID
and Password are USERID1 and PASSW0RD (with a zero). These should be
used unless they have been changed.
9. Click OK to save the changes.

Configuring the SMI-S provider for IBM DS Storage DS3000,


DS4000, and DS5000
The SMI-S provider for the IBM DS Storage DS3000, DS4000, and DS5000 must be
configured before it can be used.

To configure this SMI-S provider, follow these steps:


1. Click Navigate Resources > Groups > Groups by System Type > Storage
Systems. A table of storage groups is displayed.
2. Select the group named SMI-S Providers.
3. Click Actions > View Members. A list of systems is displayed.
4. Select a system that hosts an SMI-S provider for the IBM DS Storage DS3000,
DS4000, and DS5000 Controller Module.
5. Click Actions > System Configuration > SMI-S Provider Configuration > IBM
DS3000/4000/5000. The SMI-S Provider Configuration page is displayed.
6. Click Actions > Add Storage System.
7. Choose one of these options:
v Click Select a Storage System that has already been discovered, then click
Browse to see a list of existing, discovered IBM DS Storage DS3000, DS4000,
and DS5000 storage systems.
v Click Enter storage system information manually and enter the IP addresses
for the primary and secondary controllers.
8. Specify the user ID and password for the management port. The user ID and
password were specified when you enabled authentication for the provider.
If you have not already enabled authentication, see this topic for instructions:
Enabling Authentication for the LSI SMI-S provider (Version 10.10.G5.xx).
9. Click OK to save the changes.

Enabling Authentication for the LSI ESG SMI-S provider


Once this SMI-S provider is installed, review your authentication settings and
make any necessary changes.

This SMI-S provider is shipped with authentication disabled. It is available to be


enabled only if the SMI-S provider and CIMOM packages were installed together.
If you install the SMI-S provider into an existing CIMOM, this CIMOM is
responsible for authentication.

To enable authentication for the LSI ESG SMI-S provider, complete the following
steps:
1. Stop the SMI-S provider service by clicking Service > Engenio SMI-S Provider
Server > Actions > Stop.
2. Edit the cimom.properties file located in the wbemservices/cimom/bin folder.

532 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


3. This file contains a list of available authentication providers. A '#' in front of the
name indicates that it is not selected (commented out).
4. Choose the authentication provide that you want by removing the '#' that is in
front of it.
v BasicUserPasswordProvider authentication indicates that domain and local
users can authenticate on Windows systems. If running with Virtual Private
Network, domain authentication does not function. Only local users can
authenticate on Unix systems.
v CredentialsBasedPasswordProvider indicates that initially all users can
authenticate.
To secure the system, create an instance of <OEM>_CIMOMSharedSecret in
the '/interop'/ namespace. The following keys must be populated with the
following values:
– SystemCreatonClassName = "<OEM>_StorageManagementSystem"
– CreationClassName = "<OEM>_CIMOMSharedSecretService"
– ServiceName = "CIMOMSharedSecretService"
– SystemName = "CIMOM_IP
– RemoteId = USER_CHOICE
If you want a password, you must also populate the Secret property with a
password of your choice. With this authentication enabled, only user ID and
password combinations created as <OEM>_CIMOMSharedSecret instances
can access the CIMOM.
To remove a user, delete the appropriate instance.
v UnsecureUserPasswordProvider indicates that you request access to the
provider by specifying anything for the userid and password; authentication
is not checked.

Now that the authentication is enabled, you must verify this SMI-S provider.

Verifying the LSI ESG SMI-S provider:

Once you have enabled authentication, verify the installation and configuration of
this SMI-S provider.

To verify the LSI ESG SMI-S provider, complete the following steps:
1. Open a command window.
2. Issue this command: cd C:\program files\EngenioProvider\wbemservices\
bin.
3. Issue this command: cimworkshop. The Login page is displayed.
4. Authentication is not enabled by default, so enter anything for the user ID
and password. A page with the /interop directory tree is displayed.
5. Change /interop to Isissi11:
6. Click Actions > Find Class. An Input pop-up is displayed requesting the
name of the class to find.
7. Type the name CIM_ComputerSystem.
8. Click OK.
9. Wait for the search to complete. A directory tree with the
CIM_ComputerSystem entry is displayed.
10. Right click on the entry LSISSI_StorageManagementSystem.
11. Click Show Instance. A list of instances is displayed.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 533


12. If you see a list of instances, then the LSI ESG SMI-S provider has been
successfully installed and configured.
13. Optional: If you do not see any instances:
a. First retry the steps in this task carefully.
b. Check the IP addresses inside the arrayhosts.txt file in the
..\EngenioProvider\SMI_SProvider\bin directory, and make sure that
they are the IP addresses of the storage subsystem controllers.
c. If that does not resolve the problem, contact your service provider.

Verifying the SMI-S provider for the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 storage system:

Use this task to verify that the SMI-S provider for the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 has
been correctly configured.

To verify the SMI-S provider for the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 storage system,
complete the following steps:
1. Open a command window.
2. Issue this command: dscimcli lsuser.
The output is similar to this:

Username
========
admin
superuser

You should see the user IDs that you have defined.
3. Issue this command: dscimcli lsdev -l.
The output is similar to this:

TYPE IP IP2 Username Storage Image Status Code Level Min Codelevel
=========================================================
DS 22.33.44.55 - admin IBM.1750–1300019 successful 5.2.2.272 5.0.6.235
DS 22.33.44.66 - admin IBM.1750–1300000 successful 5.2.2.272 5.0.6.235

If you do not see information similar to this, first retry the installation of the SMI-S
provider. If that does not resolve the problem, contact your service provider.

Enabling Authentication for the LSI SMI-S provider (Version


10.10.G5.xx)
After this SMI-S provider is installed, review your authentication settings and
make any necessary changes.

This SMI-S provider is shipped with authentication disabled. You can only enable
it if the SMI-S provider and DCFM SMI Agent (CIMOM) were installed together. If
you install the SMI-S provider into an existing CIMOM, this CIMOM performs the
authentication.

To enable authentication for this SMI-S provider, follow these steps:


1. Run this command: cimconfig -s enableAuthentication=true –p.
2. Create a user by running this command: cimuser -a -u user_ID -w password
3. Restart the provider.

To enable SLP, run these commands:


534 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
cimconfig -s slp=true -p
cimconfig -s enableHttpConnection=true -p
cimconfig -s enableHttpsConnection=true -p
cimconfig -s runInternalPegasusSLP=true -p
cimconfig -s registerExternalOpenSLP=false -p
cimconfig -s registerMultipleSLP=false -p

Discovering and collecting inventory for storage devices


Storage devices including disks, switches and storage controllers must be
discovered. The systems that these devices are attached to must have inventory
collection run.

Running Discovery and unlocking storage devices using


SMI-S providers
Run Discovery for your storage devices before you can view or make changes to
them. This is a basic discovery procedure.

Note: Before running discovery for your storage devices using an SMI-S provider,
you must install and configure the provider. For more information about storage
devices that require SMI-S providers and for instructions about how to install and
configure the providers, see the related reference topic, Managing SMI-S providers.

The procedure works by using an IP address for an SMI-S Provider, under the
assumption that systems that have access to the SMI-S Provider are those that have
the storage that the SMI-S Provider controls. To run System Discovery for systems
that have a SMI-S Provider, complete the following steps:
1. From the Navigation area of the Welcome page click Inventory > System
Discovery The System Discovery page is displayed.
2. Click Single system (IP address).
3. Type the IP address of the storage provider in the IP address field.
4. Click Discover.
5. Wait for the task to complete. A table of systems that have this SMI-S Provider
is displayed.
6. Select a system. An entry for this system is displayed.
7. If the Access field indicates No Access:
a. Click the No Access link.
b. Type a User ID and Password for the system. (The user ID and password
needed are most likely the same as the operating system user ID and
password.)
c. Click Request Access.
Access to the system is established.
8. From the Resource Navigator, a list of storage devices is displayed along with
the system that was just discovered.

Running Direct Connection discovery and unlocking storage


devices using SMI-S providers
Discover storage devices by searching for systems that have the SMI-S provider for
that type of storage. This is an advanced discovery procedure.

Note: Before running discovery for your storage devices using an SMI-S provider,
you must install and configure the provider. For information about storage devices

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 535


that require SMI-S providers and for instructions about how to install and
configure the providers, see the related topic, “Managing SMI-S providers”.

The procedure works by using an IP address for an SMI-S provider, under the
assumption that systems that have access to the SMI-S provider are those that have
the storage that the SMI-S provider will access.

To run system discovery for systems that have an SMI-S provider, follow these
steps:
1. From the Navigation area of the Welcome page click Inventory > System
Discovery The System Discovery page opens.
2. Under Advanced Tasks, click Create new profile. The Discovery Profile wizard
starts. Specify the following values:
v On the Profile Properties page, for Resource type, select Operating System.
SMI-S providers are viewed as if they were operating systems.
v On the SMI-S Configuration page, specify these values:
– Select Direct Connection as the type of SMI-S discovery.
– Accept the default port number unless it is already in use.

Note: For some types of hardware, the port number might not be correct.
Review the following choices and correct the port number if necessary.
Table 44. Port numbers for hardware models
Operating system
Hardware model Protocol hosting the provider Port number
IBM System Storage http All 5988
N3000
https 5989
IBM BladeCenter S http Microsoft Windows 5988
SAS RAID Controller Server 2008
Module
Microsoft Windows 5988
Server 2003
Linux 15988

3. The new profile is listed on the Discovery Profiles table.


4. Select the new profile and click Run. The Task Launch Dialog opens. You can
run the task now or schedule it for later.
5. When you run the task, monitor its status. It could take a long time.
6. If you selected Request access later on the Access Request page in step 2,
access the systems after the task completes.
a. Open the SMI-S Providers storage group by clicking Navigate Resources >
Groups by System Type > Storage Systems > SMI-S Providers.
b. Select a system. The Access field indicates No Access. Click No Access.
c. Enter a User ID and Password for the system.
d. Click Request Access.
Access to the system is established.
7. From the Resource Navigator, a list of storage devices is displayed along with
the system that was just discovered.

536 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Running System Discovery for multiple SMI-S providers using
multicast and broadcast
Using multicast and broadcast, multiple SMI-S providers can be discovered at
once.

Service Location Protocol (SLP) is the protocol used for SMI-S multicast and
broadcast discovery. SLP is used for clients to locate servers and other services on
the network. This procedure is using two advanced SLP methods, multicast and
broadcast, to find all SMI-S providers. It does the following:
v Send an SLP request to the default multicast group.
v Send an SLP request to the broadcast group.
v Using these two functions, try to find all your SMI-S providers.

To run system discovery for multiple SMI-S providers using multicast and
broadcast, complete the following steps:
1. From the Navigation area of the Welcome page click Inventory > System
Discovery The System Discovery page is displayed.
2. In the Advanced Tasks area, click Create new profile. The Discovery Profile
wizard is displayed.
3. If you see the Welcome page:
a. Clear Show this Welcome page next time if you do not want to see the
Welcome page next time.
b. Click Next.
The Profile Properties page is displayed.
4. Type a name for the Discovery profile that you are creating.
5. Select a resource type of Operating System. SMI-S providers are viewed as if
they were operating systems.
6. Select a resource subtype of All.
7. Type a description of the new profile.
8. Click Next. The Protocol selection page is displayed.
9. Click Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) Discovery.
10. Click Next. The SMI-S Configuration page is displayed.
11. Select the type of discovery. Click Multicast and broadcast.
12. Click Enable multicast.
13. Click Enable general broadcast.
14. Choose a timeout period of 60 seconds.
15. Click Next. The Access Request page is displayed.
16. Optional: Click Request access later. Because multiple SMI-S providers are
discovered, it is not advisable to automatically request access to the
discovered systems. Unless all discovered SMI-S providers have the exact
same User ID and password, the access request will fail.
17. Click Next. The Inventory Discovery page is displayed.
18. Click Discover (collect) inventory later.
19. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
20. Examine the discovery information on this page carefully.
v If everything is correct, click Finish to create the profile.
v If something must be corrected, click Back or select the page to return to
from the navigation area.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 537


A table of discovery profiles is displayed, with an entry for the new profile
that you just created.
21. Select this profile and click Run. A scheduler pop-up is displayed below the
table of profiles.
22. Choose to run the task now, or specify options for running later.
23. Click OK.
24. Monitor the status of this job. It could potentially take a long time.
25. To see the systems with SMI-S Providers as they are discovered, click
Navigate Resources > Groups > All Systems. As the systems with SMI-S
providers are discovered, they will be added to this page.

Running System Discovery for SMI-S providers using a


directory agent
Using a directory agent, multiple SMI-S providers can be discovered at once. This
is useful to find SMI-S providers that are on a different subnet that the
management server. This is an advanced discovery procedure.

Service Location Protocol (SLP) is the protocol used for SMI-S directory agent
discovery. SLP is used for clients to locate servers and other services on the
network. This procedure is using a directory agent to find all SMI-S providers. This
is useful if an SMI-S provider is located on a different subnet.

A scope is used to categorize SMI-S providers. A scope is a list of SMI-S providers


defined in the directory agent. If a scope is used in this procedure, a particular
SMI-S provider will not be discovered unless it is listed in the scope.

To run advanced discovery for multiple SMI-S providers using a directory agent,
complete the following steps:
1. From the Navigation area of the Welcome page click Inventory > System
Discovery The System Discovery page opens.
2. Under Advanced Tasks, click Create new profile. The Discovery Profile wizard
starts. Specify the following values:
v On the Profile Properties page, for Resource type, select Operating System.
SMI-S providers are viewed as if they were operating systems.
v On the Protocol Selection page, select Storage Management Initiative
Specification (SMI-S) Discovery.
v On the SMI-S Configuration page, specify these values:
– Select Proxy - using directory agents as the type of SMI-S discovery.
– Specify the IP address or host name of the directory agent and click Add.
You can add multiple agents, one at a time.

Note: If you specify a range of IP addresses, that range must use either
IPV4 or IPV6 format. They cannot be mixed.
– Optional: Enter a value in the Scope field and click Add. This value is the
name of a scope defined in the directory agent. The scope limits the
discovery task to only those providers listed in the scope area of the
directory agent.
v On the Access Request page, select Request access later. Because multiple
SMI-S providers are discovered, it is not advisable to automatically request
access from all providers. Unless all discovered SMI-S providers have the
same User ID and password, the access request will fail.

538 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v On the Inventory Discovery page, select Discover (collect) inventory later.
3. The new profile is listed on the Discovery Profiles table.
4. Select the new profile and click Run. The Task Launch Dialog opens. You can
run the task now or schedule it for later.
5. When you run the task, monitor its status. It could take a long time.
6. To see the systems with SMI-S providers as they are discovered, click Navigate
Resources > All Systems. As the systems with SMI-S providers are discovered,
they are added to this page.

Working with external storage applications


Use an external storage management application to configure, control, and
maintain certain storage devices and their connectivity to your network. These
applications should already be installed, but if they are not, consult the appropriate
documentation to acquire and install them.

The external storage management application to be run must be installed or


accessible. You must have run inventory collection on the storage devices in order
to launch an external storage management application for those storage devices.

This list describes the application to be used for each storage device.
v IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center for SAN-attached devices
v DS4000 Storage Manager for IBM DS3000, DS4000, and DS5000 storage devices
v IBM DS Storage Manager for DS6000 storage devices
v IBM System Storage N series N3600 features browser-based management, so no
application needs to be installed
v ServeRAID Manager for Internal RAID controllers

To learn more about storage device support, see this infocenter topic: Supported
Storage devices.

The External Storage Applications page is built based on the inventory of your
storage devices. The applications are displayed only if your inventory has storage
devices that can be managed by these applications.

All of the external storage applications except IBM TotalStorage Productivity


Center can be launched after having selected a target resource.

Installing and configuring external storage applications


Storage systems management uses some storage applications, which must be
installed and configured prior to managing storage devices.

Installing and configuring IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center


If you want to use IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center in conjunction with IBM
Systems Director, IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center must be installed and
properly configured. You can either use an existing installation of IBM TotalStorage
Productivity Center or you can download IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center
Limited Edition.

To install and configure IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center, complete the


following steps:
1. Download IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center Limited Edition from the
Passport Advantage® web page.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 539


Note: Your company must have a Passport Advantage contract to download
from Passport Advantage. If you have not enrolled, see this web page for
instructions: How to enroll.
2. For instructions on how to install IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center, see the
IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center Installation and Configuration Guide.

Notes:
v The directory to which you extract the IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center
code for installation and the directory where you choose to install IBM
TotalStorage Productivity Center both have a limit of 60 characters in the
path name.
v The source directory from which IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center is
installed cannot have a hyphen character (-) anywhere in the path name.
v For additional installation and configuration tips, see the Support for IBM
TotalStorage Productivity Center for Data Web page. Under the V3.1 heading,
click Technical notes. Then search for Hints and Tips.
3. If IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center is installed on the same system as IBM
Systems Director Server, you must configure SNMP trap forwarding between
IBM Systems Director and IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center.

Configuring SNMP trap forwarding for IBM TotalStorage


Productivity Center
If IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center is installed on the same system as IBM
Systems Director, you must configure SNMP trap forwarding between IBM
Systems Director and IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center.

You do not need to configure SNMP trap forwarding if IBM Systems Director and
IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center are installed on different systems.

Complete the following steps to forward SNMP traps without modification:


1. Using a text editor, edit a file named SNMPServer.properties in the
IBM\Director\data\snmp directory.
2. To forward SNMPv1 traps:
a. Remove the # character at the beginning of this line:
#snmp.trap.v1.forward.address.1=
b. Type the IP address of the SNMPv1 trap destination after the equal sign (=).
This is the IP address of the local system where IBM Systems Director
Server and IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center are installed.
c. Remove the # character at the beginning of this line:
#snmp.trap.v1.forward.port.1=
d. Type the port number of the SNMPv1 trap destination after the equal sign
(=). It is recommended that you use port 22162.
3. To forward SNMPv2 traps:
a. Remove the # character at the beginning of this line:
#snmp.trap.v2.forward.address.1=
b. Type the IP address of the SNMPv2 trap destination after the equal sign (=).
This is the IP address of the local system where IBM Systems Director
Server and IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center server are installed.
c. Remove the # character at the beginning of this line:
#snmp.trap.v2.forward.port.1=

540 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


d. Type the port number of the SNMPv2 trap destination after the equal sign
(=). It is recommended that you use port 22162.
4. Save the file.
5. Stop and restart IBM Systems Director Server.
6. Using the tpctool command line, type the following command:
setdscfg -user id -pwd pw -url hostname:9550 -property SnmpTrapPort port

where hostname is the fully qualified host name of the system where the IBM
TotalStorage Productivity Center server is installed, id is a valid user name on
that system, pw is the password for that user, and port is the same port number
to which you configured IBM Systems Director Server to forward traps. It is
recommended that you use port 22162.
7. Stop and restart the IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center server.

Installing and configuring IBM DS Storage Manager for DS4000


To use the IBM TotalStorage DS4000 devices, you must obtain the latest version of
IBM DS Storage Manager for DS4000. This application can also be used for IBM
DS3000 and DS5000 devices.

To learn more about storage device support, see this infocenter topic: Supported
Storage devices.

To install and configure the IBM DS Storage Manager for DS4000, complete the
following steps:
1. Go to the DS4000 Storage Manager product Web site and download the IBM
DS Storage Manager for DS4000: http://www-947.ibm.com/systems/support/
supportsite.wss/selectproduct?taskind=2&brandind=5000028
&familyind=5329597&typeind=0&modelind=0&osind=0&psid=sr&continue.x=1
&matrix=Y#Storage%20Manager.
2. Configure IBM DS Storage Manager for DS4000 according to the instructions
found on the Web site, and any Readme or similar files that you find.
Related reference

Downloads for DS4000 family storage devices

Installing and configuring IBM DS Storage Manager for DS6000


In order to use the IBM TotalStorage DS6000 devices, you must obtain the IBM DS
Storage Manager for DS6000.

To install and configure the IBM DS Storage Manager for DS6000, complete the
following steps:
1. Go to this Web site and download the IBM DS Storage Manager for DS6000.
www.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/supportresources?taskind=2
&brandind=5000033&familyind=5329497
2. Configure the IBM DS Storage Manager for DS6000 according to the
instructions found on the Web site, and any Readme or similar files that you
find.

Installing and configuring ServeRAID Manager


For some ServeRAID controllers, you must install ServeRAID Manager V9.2 or
higher. Follow these instructions to install and configure this software. IBM
Systems Director 6.2.1 supports only V9.2 or higher of ServeRAID Manager.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 541


You must have an IBM ServeRAID Application CD V9.2 - Servers and
IntelliStation®. You might have received one with certain IBM products. If not, you
can download IBM ServeRAID Application CD V9.2 - Servers and IntelliStation
from the Software Matrix Web site at http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/
portal/docdisplay?brand=5000008&lndocid=MIGR-61707. This CD is used to install
all necessary ServeRAID software.

When viewing the contents of this CD, these two features are needed:
v ServeRAID Manager Console
v ServeRAID Manager Agent

Other features on this CD are not needed by IBM Systems Director 6.2.1.

To install and configure ServeRAID Manager, complete the following steps:


1. Verify that you need the ServeRAID Manager. Only these ServeRAID
controllers need the ServeRAID Manager. If your ServeRAID controller is not
on this list, do not perform any remaining steps in this task. You do not need
to install or configure anything else.
v IBM ServeRAID-8i Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) controller
v IBM ServeRAID-8k and 8k-l
v IBM ServeRAID-8s
v IBM ServeRAID-7t SATA controller
v IBM ServeRAID-7k Ultra320 SCSI controller
v IBM ServeRAID-7e/8e (Adaptec HostRAID) controllers
v IBM ServeRAID-6i/6i+ Ultra320 SCSI controller
v IBM ServeRAID-6M Ultra320 SCSI controller
v IBM ServeRAID-4H/4M/4L/4Mx/4Lx Ultra160 SCSI controllers
v LSI-1030 integrated RAID controller
2. Install IBM Systems Director 6.2.1 Platform or Common Agent on the system
that hosts the RAID adapter, if you have not already done this.
3. Navigate to the folder of ServeRAID Manager 9.2 or higher Application CD,
and install ServeRAID Manager Agent. Now on the system that hosts the RAID
adapter, the following features have been installed:
a. Director Agent (shown as 'IBM Director Agent') and 'IBM Director Platform
Agent'.
b. 'ServeRAID Manger', the ServeRAID Manager Agent.
4. On the system running the Web browser (IBM Systems Director Web interface),
navigate to the folder of ServeRAID Manager 9.2 or higher Application CD,
and install ServeRAID Manager Console. You need only the Console, so do not
install other components. The system should already have IBM JRE 1.5 or later
versions installed.
5. Open a Web browser connection to IBM Systems Director Server, discover the
system that hosts the RAID adapter, request access, and collect inventory.
ServeRAID Manager can now be launched as an External Storage Application
or from the Actions menu of a server of the system that hosts the RAID
adapter.

Note: When you select and launch a discovered controller instance, the
controller instance is shown inside the launched ServeRAID application.
6. When the ServeRAID Manager Console is launched for the first time, you must
add managed system manually.

542 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Launching an external storage management application
Use an external storage management application to configure, control, and
maintain certain secondary storage devices and their connectivity to your network.

To launch an external storage management application for a given resource,


perform the following steps:
1. Select a storage resource from the Resource Navigator.
2. Depending on the type of device, choose the correct external storage
application:
v Click Actions > Launch IBM DS4000 Storage Manager for IBM DS3000,
DS4000, and DS5000 devices.
v Click Actions > Launch IBM DS6000 Storage Manager for IBM DS6000
devices.
v Click Actions > Launch IBM N Series Data ONTAP
v Click Actions > Launch ServeRAID Manager for Internal RAID controllers.
The external storage application starts, but you can perform only those tasks
related to the chosen resource.

Note: If you are trying to launch these tasks from the Mozilla Firefox Web
browser and the task does not start, you might need to enable pop-up
windows.
a. Look for a message toward the top of the window that says “Firefox
prevented this site from opening a pop-up window.”
b. Click the Options button at the end of the message line.
c. Select Allow pop-ups for ip_address.
d. Launch the task again.
3. Login to the application and perform all necessary tasks.
4. When you are finished with the application, close the application window.

As an alternative, you can launch the external storage applications without


selecting a target resource. From the IBM Systems Director Web interface, select
System Configuration > External Storage Applications. The External Storage
Applications page is displayed. Select the application from this page. This is the
only way to launch the IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center.

Requirements for IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center


These requirements must be met when using IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center
with IBM Systems Director.

IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center must be:


1. Release Limited Edition Version 3.1 or later
2. Launched from one of these operating systems: Windows, AIX, or Linux

Automatic installation is not supported.

For launching IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center in an untargeted fashion (for


example, from the External Storage Application page), IBM TotalStorage
Productivity Center must be installed on the same system that the user is running
the client browser session (the browser they are using to connect to IBM Systems
Director).

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 543


For more information, see the IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center Web site:
www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/software/center/.

Requirements for IBM DS Storage Manager


These requirements must be met when using IBM DS Storage Manager with IBM
Systems Director.

IBM DS Storage Manager must meet these requirements:


v It must be launched from one of these operating systems: Windows, AIX, or
Linux.
v Only version 10.60.g5.16 or earlier is supported. To determine the recommended
version for each disk system, see the documentation for DS Storage Manager.

Note: If you already downloaded a later version of IBM DS Storage Manager


and cannot start it, see the troubleshooting topic "Cannot start an IBM DS
Storage Manager with version later than 10.6.x.x" in the IBM Systems Director
information center..

IBM DS Storage Manager must be installed on the same system that is running the
client browser session (the browser used to connect to IBM Systems Director).

Automatic installation is not supported.

IBM DS Storage Manager is used for DS5000, DS4000, and DS3000 disk systems.

If you try to invoke IBM DS Storage Manager and it is not found, you will see a
page with installation instructions.

IBM DS Storage Manager, only version 10.60.g5.16 or earler or supported, if you


have trouble launching with later versions, please refer to trouble shooting topics

For more information, see the Disk systems support site. Browse to expand your
disk system and select Documentation: IBM DS Storage Manager support.

To learn more about storage device support, see this infocenter topic: Supported
Storage devices.

Requirements for IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000


These requirements must be met when using IBM System Storage Manager for
DS6000 with IBM Systems Director.

IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000 must be:


1. Version 5.2 or later
2. Launched from Windows for an untargeted launch. This is because IBM System
Storage Manager for DS6000 runs only from Windows.

Automatic installation is not supported.

For launching IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000 in an untargeted fashion
(for example, from the External Storage Application page), IBM System Storage
Manager for DS6000 must be installed on the same system that is running the
client browser session (the browser used to connect to IBM Systems Director).

544 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Targeted launch of IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000

For a targeted launch of IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000:


1. Launch from any operating system with a Web browser.
2. IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000 must be installed with IBM Systems
Director, but IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000 does not have to be
installed on the same system as the client browser.
3. The IBM DS6000 storage devices must have been discovered using IBM
Systems Director.

For more information, see the IBM System Storage Manager for DS6000 Web site:
www.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/supportresources?taskind=2
&brandind=5000033&familyind=5329497

Requirements for ServeRAID Manager


These requirements must be met when using ServeRAID Manager with IBM
Systems Director.
v ServeRAID Manager can be launched only on a system running Windows or
Linux.
v You also can run the IBM Systems Director ServeRAID Manager plug-in on the
same system where you have installed the ServeRAID Manager application.
v If you try to invoke ServeRAID Manager and it is not found, you see a page of
installation instructions.
v Automatic installation is not supported.
v For External Application Launch to work, the IBM Systems Director Web
interface must have IBM JRE V1.5 or a higher level.
v ServeRAID Manager can be launched from an external storage applications link
or from a discovered ServeRAID Controller in IBM Systems Director.
v When ServeRAID Manager is launched from a discovered ServeRAID Controller,
the controller is automatically added to the launched ServeRAID Manager.
v If the client machine where the browser is launched to Director is authenticated
using a certificate, when ServeRAID Manager opens, a credential authentication
dialog opens.

IBM Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1


Use these topics to learn about Storage Control.

IBM Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1 license information


Storage Control comes with a 60 day trial period. You can discover, monitor the
health status of, and add and remove devices, starting on the day that you install
Storage Control.

At the end of 60 days, the monitoring functions remain operational. You can view
the health and configuration of the device and monitor its capacity and utilization,
and remove the device from the Systems Director inventory. If the permanent key
is not acquired and installed after 60 days, you cannot use Storage Control to
discover and add new devices to Storage Control.

Note: Provisioning management can only be performed if VMC-SVS is installed.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 545


Viewing storage devices
You can view storage devices from a number of different perspectives, such as
storage groups, the devices attached to a given system, a list of storage volumes, a
list of discovered storage devices, System status and health of storage systems, and
a topology view for a particular device.

Storage Management Summary


Your storage devices can be viewed and managed in one central location. The
Storage Management Summary page provides an introduction to your storage
systems. The Storage Management Summary is invoked from the Manage tab of
the Welcome page.

The Storage Management Summary page gives high-level details about your
storage systems, and links to the tasks that provide more detail and administer the
storage devices. You can also install a trial version of IBM Systems Director Storage
Control 4.2.1 by following a link on this page.

Discovery and inventory collection must be run before you can display storage
systems. The Storage Management Summary page is divided into these areas:
Try IBM Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1
Click this link if you want to install a trial version of Storage Control. For
more information about Storage Control, see IBM Systems Director Storage
Control 4.2.1 in the information center.
Capacity Summary
A pie chart represents your disk capacity in each of these categories.
Total configured capacity (to volumes)
Number of GB of the volumes that are assigned.
Total available capacity (for volumes)
Number of GB of disk pool size that is unassigned to volumes, but
are available for creating future new volumes.
This the space available for creating future new volumes. Total
available capacity represents the remaining total storage array or
storage pool space that could be used to create volumes. Initially,
when creating a storage array or pool, the configured capacity is
zero and the available capacity is the pool size. Creating additional
volumes decreases the amount of available capacity. Available
capacity is a measurement of the current quantity of usable
storage.
The capacity measurement is a snapshot created when inventory is
collected on the storage arrays. Inventory collection can be
configured to run on a schedule to periodically update the capacity
information if storage volumes and pools are created after the
initial inventory collection.
For Local Storage, capacity information collected for storage devices
attached to systems that are running IBM Director 5.20 is limited to the
Total raw capacity. The Total configured capacity and Total available
capacity are not included in the Capacity Summary for these storage
devices.
Storage tasks

546 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


View and Manage Storage Volumes
Work with your currently-defined storage volumes to make
changes, add or delete them. Details about status and capacity are
also available.
This task is managing the assignment of network storage to
individual systems, from the context of a specific host system. You
can create a new volume from network storage to be assigned to a
selected host system, or delete a volume that is currently assigned
to a selected host system. The create volumes function simplifies
the allocation process by determining the best fit storage system,
and creating any necessary RAID arrays automatically.
View and Apply Storage Templates
Work with storage templates, which are predefined images for
certain storage devices. Storage templates are used to ensure
uniformity among common storage elements, as well as save time
and effort on repetitive tasks.
Storage templates can be used:
1. To clone the storage configuration of a system - save a storage
volume template from an existing server, and then later
applying a saved template to another system. This can be used
for duplication (clustering, or virtual server hosts) or for saving
the storage configuration for backup or disaster recovery
purposes.
2. As a starting point for creating additional volumes - start with
a base template and make changes as needed.
Capacity Details
For each type of storage, this table indicates the available capacity, usable
capacity, total capacity, number of systems, and number of disk drives. The
entries in this list correspond to storage groups having the same name. If
you select an entry, a table of storage subsystems that are members of the
selected group is displayed.
Local Storage
Storage that is local to only one system, and therefore dedicated to
only that system.
For the Local Storage row, capacity information collected for
storage devices attached to systems that are running IBM Director
5.20 is limited to the Total raw capacity. The Total usable capacity
and Total available capacity is not displayed for these storage
devices.
BladeCenter Storage
Storage accessible to all of your IBM BladeCenter systems.
Specifically, this is IBM BladeCenter S storage being managed by
an IBM SAS Controller Module.
From IBM Systems Director, IBM BladeCenter Integrated storage
can be access through several paths: View and Manage Storage
Volumes from the Storage Management Summary page, the
Configuration tab of the Properties page of a host system, or by
configuration templates.
Network storage
Storage accessed with switches, adapters, and protocols such as
Fibre Channel, SAS, and iSCSI. Network storage (and IBM

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 547


BladeCenter Integrated storage) is managed by IBM Systems
Director (for supported storage devices) and by native
management applications provided with the network storage
device.
From IBM Systems Director, network storage management can be
access through several paths: View and Manage Storage Volumes
from the Storage Management Summary page, the Configuration
tab of the Properties page of a host system, or by configuration
templates.
Total Provides totals of all the columns.

Viewing storage systems using storage groups


Display a hierarchical view of the volumes mapped to each system, and from
which storage subsystem each volume is allocated.

Predefined storage groups are in these categories: IBM BladeCenter, Network,


Local storage, SMI-S providers, Storage Subsystems and Volumes, Systems and
Volumes. Ensure that you have run Discovery for all systems that have storage
attached, that these systems are not locked, and that you have run inventory
collection for these systems.

To view your storage systems using storage groups.


1. Click Navigate Resources. The Navigate Resources page is displayed.
2. Select Groups by System Type. A table of groups is displayed.
3. Select Storage Systems. A table listing the different categories of storage
systems is displayed.
4. Select Systems and Volumes.
v To view a table of systems and their associated volumes, select Systems and
Volumes. Note that the associated volumes for each system are displayed
directly below the row for the system.
v To view a table of storage subsystems and their volumes, select Storage
Subsystems and Volumes.
5. Choose and display other storage groups, depending on which ones are of
interest.

Displaying attached storage for a given system


Display the current configuration for a given system, and view its existing storage
volumes and other storage devices. You can select to View or Edit this information.

The Storage Management Summary page contains some details about storage
devices. First, review this page to see if the information that you are looking for is
in either the Capacity Summary or Capacity Details sections.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To display the current configuration for a given system, complete the following
steps:
1. Click Navigate Resources. The Navigate Resources page is displayed.
2. Select All Systems. A list of discovered systems is displayed.
3. Select a system from the list.

548 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. Click Actions > System Configuration > Current Configuration. A table of all
the configuration settings for this system is displayed.
5. Select Storage Provisioning.
6. Click Actions > Edit.. A table of existing storage volumes for the selected
system is displayed.
7. Optional: To create a new storage volume, click Actions > Create Volume. The
Create Volumes wizard is displayed.
8. Optional: To delete a storage volume, select the volume and click Actions >
Delete Volume. You are asked to confirm the deletion.

Notes:
1. When Storage Providers are discovered, the storage is automatically available.
2. On some storage devices, such as Advanced RAID Controller, Integrated RAID
Controller, or IBM SAS RAID Controller Module, the storage is available to be
viewed from the System Configuration menu.

Viewing storage volumes


This displays of a table of all storage volumes accessible to IBM Systems Director.

Note that a storage volume is similar to a logical volume.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To view detailed information about storage volumes, complete the following steps:
1. From the Storage Management Summary page, locate the Capacity Summary
area, and the Storage Tasks pane on the right.
2. Click View and Manage Storage Volumes. The Current® Configuration page is
displayed.
3. Select a system. Storage details for the system are displayed.
4. Select Storage Provisioning Configuration. A list of storage volumes associated
with the selected system is displayed.
5. If you have not yet run inventory discovery, this table might be empty. Return
to the Storage Management Summary page and click Storage system not being
discovered? Learn more so that you can plan and run the necessary discovery
task.

Viewing the health and status of storage devices


Use the System Status and Health summary of IBM Systems Director to view the
health and status of storage devices.

When using the System Status and Health summary, these areas are of interest
with respect to storage devices, and characteristics that are unique to storage
systems:
Active status
The status for storage devices must be cleared manually if the cause of the
status change is resolved outside of IBM Systems Director. In this case,
either ignore, deactivate, or delete the status set to reset the status of a
storage system.
Event log
Storage events are recorded in this log.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 549


Health summary
You can add storage systems for health summary, the same way that you
add other resources to be monitored.

To view the system status and health for storage devices, complete the following
steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome. The Welcome
page is displayed.
2. On the Welcome page, click the Manage tab. A list of available summary
pages is displayed.
3. On the Manage tab, scroll to the Status Manager section heading and click it.
The Status Manager Summary page is displayed.
4. In the Status tasks area, click Health summary. The Health Summary page is
displayed.
5. Examine the storage systems, or if there are none present, use this page to add
them.
6. Click Cancel. The Status Manager Summary page is displayed.
7. In the Status tasks area, click View active and ignored status. The Active
status page is displayed.
8. Search this page for status information for your storage systems. If you do not
find a system that you want to be monitored, add it.
9. Click Cancel. The Status Manager Summary page is displayed.
10. In the Management Section, view the Common Tasks area.
11. Click Event Log. A list of event logs is displayed.
12. Choose an event log and view its contents, searching for storage-related
entries.
13. Click Cancel until you exit the status manager.

Storage topology perspective


The Storage topology perspective displays a topology view tailored to the
storage-related resources for a system or device.

Make sure that discovery has been run, inventory has been collected, and the
system that the storage devices are attached to is unlocked before trying to view
their topology map.

By default, a topology perspective contains all resources related to the device. The
Storage perspective limits the resource types to storage-related resources.

The topology view can be invoked wherever there is a table listing a particular
storage device. An example is to select a device, and then click Actions > Topology
Perspectives. Then, choose one of these storage-related views:
v Storage - Provides a topology map that shows logical relationships between
resources that are related to the selected resource, including hosts, host volumes,
storage systems, storage volumes, storage pools, and disk drives.
v Storage Area Network - Provides a topology map that shows physical
connections between resources that are related to the selected resource, including
hosts, switches, ports, physical connectors, and storage systems.

The topology view shows the devices and their connectivity. Arrows connect the
devices. The name of each device is listed whenever possible. Connectors are
represented by a connector icon.

550 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


The Depth option can be used to see a deeper view of the device connections, by
clicking Actions > Depth and then selecting a number.

You can display the graph in one of two layouts. Click Actions > Layout to choose
one of these layouts:
Radial Presents the display in a radial layout, having the display fan out from left
to right and top to bottom, as needed.
Tree Presents the display in a tree layout. The selected resource is on the first
level. The second level is the devices immediately attached to the selected
resource. The third level is attachments to the second level devices and so
forth, to the depth that has been selected with the Depth option.

The Overview area shows the graph without the details, and is used to zoom in to
see specific areas.

Managing storage in real-time


You can manage storage systems in real-time, without the use of configuration
templates.

Creating storage system pools


You can use the Create Storage System Pool wizard to create a storage system pool
that is composed of one or more storage subsystems.

Before creating a storage system pool, ensure that you have discovered and
collected inventory on your storage devices.

To create a storage system pool, follow these steps:


1. From the IBM Systems Director VMControl summary page, click the Basics tab.
2. Click Storage system pools under Virtualization tasks.
3. From the Storage System Pools summary page, click the Storage System Pools
tab and click Create.
4. Follow the instructions in the Create Storage System Pool wizard to create a
storage system pool that is composed of selected storage subsystems.

Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x storage devices


You can perform real time management of these storage systems, which are
attached to IBM BladeCenter or System x systems.

IBM Systems Director supports these storage systems that are attached to or
integrated with IBM BladeCenter or System x systems.
v Integrated RAID Controllers
v ServeRAID MR Controllers
v IBM BladeCenter SAS Connectivity Modules
v IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Modules

The systems to which these devices are attached must be discovered and have
access granted. Inventory must be collected so that IBM Systems Director will
know about the storage devices. If an SMI-S provider is involved, it must also be
discovered, unlocked, and configured.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 551


Managing Integrated RAID Controllers and their attached storage
devices
IBM Systems Director can be used to select an Integrated RAID Controller (IRC)
attached to an IBM BladeCenter or System x system, and perform storage
management tasks for the attached devices.

The IBM BladeCenter or System x systems to which these storage devices are
attached must be discovered and have access granted. Inventory must be collected
so that IBM Systems Director knows about the storage devices. If an SMI-S
provider is involved, it must also be discovered, unlocked, and configured.

To manage storage devices attached to an IRC, complete the following steps:


1. From any area that displays the IBM BladeCenter or System x system and its
attached storage devices, such as Navigate Resources, select the system or the
operating system that hosts the IRC.
2. Click Actions > System Configuration > Storage. The Storage page is
displayed.
3. View the contents of this page and perform any necessary tasks associated with
storage volumes, such as creating and deleting volumes.

Note: The Volumes and Storage Pools pages do not support all the Action
menu choices. The Volume Page supports only Create Volumes and Delete
Volumes. The Storage Pools page supports only Create Storage Pool and Delete
Storage Pool. All other Action menu choices for those pages are not supported.

Managing ServeRAID MR Controllers and their attached storage


devices
IBM Systems Director can be used to select a ServeRAID MR Controller attached to
an IBM BladeCenter or System x system, and perform storage management tasks
for the attached devices.

Note: Do not use these instructions to manage an Integrated RAID Controller


(IRC) device. For more information about managing IRC devices, see "Managing
IBM BladeCenter Integrated RAID Controllers and their attached storage devices"
in Related Links at the bottom of this page.

The IBM BladeCenter or System x systems to which these storage devices are
attached must be discovered and have access granted. Inventory must be collected
so that IBM Systems Director will know about the storage devices. If an SMI-S
provider is involved, it must also be discovered, unlocked, and configured.

To manage storage devices attached to a ServeRAID MR Controller, complete the


following steps:
1. From any area that displays the IBM BladeCenter or System x system and its
attached storage devices, such as Navigate Resources, select the system or the
operating system that hosts the ServeRAID MR Controller.
2. Click Actions > System Configuration > Storage. The Storage page is
displayed.
3. View the contents of this page and perform any necessary tasks associated with
storage volumes and pools. For example, you can create, delete, and modify
volumes or pools, and assign and unassign global and dedicated spares and
local drives. You can also use the Drives tab to perform tasks on drives.
4. Click Actions > Task Management > Long Running Tasks. The Long Running
Tasks page is displayed.

552 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


5. Use the page to view long running tasks such as rebuilding pools and
initializing drives.

Managing IBM BladeCenter SAS Connectivity Modules and their


attached storage devices
IBM Systems Director can be used to select a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
Connectivity Module attached to an IBM BladeCenter system, and perform storage
management tasks for the attached devices.

The IBM BladeCenter systems to which these storage devices are attached must be
discovered and have access granted. Inventory must be collected so that IBM
Systems Director will know about the storage devices. The IBM BladeCenter SAS
Connectivity Module switch must be discovered and unlocked.

To manage storage devices attached to a SAS Connectivity Module, complete the


following steps:
1. From any area that the IBM BladeCenter system you are interested in is
displayed, select the IBM BladeCenter chassis or SAS Connectivity module.
2. Click Actions > System Configuration > SAS Ports. This page shows all of the
internal (blade slot) and external ports on the switch, organized by type.
3. View the contents of this page and perform any necessary tasks associated with
SAS ports, such as enable, disable, or view properties.
4. Click Actions > System Configuration > Set Date and Time. A page used to
set the date and time on the SAS switch is displayed.
5. View the contents of this page and set the date and time if necessary.
6. Click Actions > System Status and Health.
v Click Collect Support Data to collect support bundles for problem analysis.
v Click Device Log to display logging information for operations performed on
this specific storage device.
v Click Error Counters to view error counts and status messages from each
device on the switch.
7. View the displayed pages and perform all necessary tasks.

Managing IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Modules and


their attached storage devices
IBM Systems Director can be used to select a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID
Controller Module attached to an IBM BladeCenter system, and perform storage
management tasks for the attached devices.

Before running this task, perform these discovery tasks, in the order specified here:
1. The SMI-S provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module
must be discovered and unlocked. This SMI-S provider is installed by default
on the IBM Systems Director server. It can also be installed on a remote host by
using remote agent install.
See this topic for instructions to install by remote agent: Installing the SMI-S
provider for the IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module on additional
systems.
If the provider is on the same subnet as the IBM Systems Director server,
follow the instructions in this topic: System Discovery.
If they are on separate subnets, follow these instructions to create a “system
discovery” profile: Creating a discovery profile.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 553


v On the Protocol Selection page, select Storage Management Initiative
Specification (SMI-S) Discovery.
v On the SMI-S Configuration page, specify the appropriate port, depending
on your operating system: 5988 for Windows or 15988 for Linux.
After creating the SMI-S discovery profile, click Run. After the discovery
completes successfully, you will see a host instance. After the provider is
configured to manage an IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller, you will also
see a storage array instance.
All information about the storage system is obtained for Systems Director
through the SMI-S provider. After discovery, configure the SMI-S provider.
2. Discover and unlock the IBM BladeCenter chassis. The default userid and
password for the chassis are USERID and PASSW0RD (with a zero).
3. The switches are automatically discovered after the chassis is unlocked.
4. Unlock the attached SAS switches. The default userid and password for the
switches are USERID1 and PASSW0RD (with a zero).
5. Add the Storage System to the SMI-S provider configuration.
a. In the left navigation, click Navigate Resources.
b. In the Groups window table, choose Groups by System Type > Storage
Systems > SMI-S Providers.
c. Select the name of the provider, then select Actions > System Configuration
> SMI-S Provider Configuration > IBM SAS RAID Controller Module >
Add Storage System.
6. Run Inventory Collection against IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller and
the Storage System. See this topic for instructions: Collecting inventory.

To manage storage devices attached to a SAS RAID Controller Module, complete


the following steps:
1. From any area that the IBM BladeCenter system and its attached storage
devices are displayed, such as Navigate Resources, select the IBM BladeCenter
chassis that contains the SAS RAID Controller Module, or an attached storage
subsystem.
2. Click Actions > System Configuration > Storage Resources. Note that this
page is displayed only if a IBM BladeCenter chassis has been selected. This
page is not used for attached storage subsystems. A page of storage resources,
with tabs for all major components, is displayed.
3. View the contents of this page and perform any necessary storage tasks.
4. Click Actions > System Configuration > Set Date and Time. A page used to
set the date and time on the selected resource is displayed.
5. View the contents of this page and set the date and time if necessary.
6. Click Actions > System Status and Health.
v Click Device Log to display logging information.
v Click Physical Resources to display attached physical resources.
7. View the displayed pages and perform all necessary tasks.
8. Click Actions > Task Management > Long Running Tasks. A page used to
display tasks that have been running for a long time is displayed.
9. From any area that the IBM BladeCenter system and its attached storage
devices are displayed, such as Navigate Resources, select the SAS switch that
you are interested in.
10. Click Actions > System Configuration > SAS Ports. This page shows all of
the internal (blade slot) and external ports on the switch, organized by type.

554 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


11. View the contents of this page and perform any necessary tasks associated
with SAS ports, such as enable, disable, or view properties.
12. Click Actions > System Configuration > Set Date and Time. A page used to
set the date and time on the SAS switch is displayed.
13. View the contents of this page and set the date and time if necessary.
14. Click Actions > System Status and Health.
v Click Collect Support Data to collect support bundles for problem analysis.
v Click Device Log to display logging information.
v Click Error Counters to view error counts and status messages.
v Click Physical Resources to display attached physical resources.
15. View the displayed pages and perform all necessary tasks.

Adding IBM BladeCenter Integrated Storage devices to a


server
To add a new IBM BladeCenter storage system, use the SMI-S provider that is
appropriate for the storage system. You can select from a list of storage systems
that have already been discovered, or enter all details about one that has not been
discovered.

Adding an IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module


storage system that has already been discovered
To add a storage system that has been discovered by IBM Systems Director, you
choose from a list of these storage systems.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To add an IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module that has already been
discovered, complete the following steps:
1. Discover and unlock a the system that you want to add the storage system to.
2. From any area that this system is displayed, such as the Resource Navigator,
click Actions > System Configuration > SMI-S provider Configuration The
Managed Storage Systems page is displayed.
3. Click Add Storage Systems. The Add Storage System page is displayed.
4. In the Storage System Selection area, click Select a storage system that has
already been discovered.
5. Click Browse to see a list of discovered storage systems. A context chooser with
a list of storage systems is displayed.
6. Select a storage system from the Available list.
7. Click OK when you are finished. The Add Storage System page is displayed
again.
8. In the Storage System Login area, type a user ID and password for the system
that is to access the storage that you just selected.
9. Click OK.

Adding an IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module that


has not been discovered
To add an IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module that has not been
discovered by IBM Systems Director, you must supply all necessary details.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 555


When using an IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module, there are two
cards, a SAS card and a RAID card. Only the RAID card IP addresses are used in
this topic.

Note: For more information about navigating and working with tables in IBM
Systems Director Web interface, see “Table navigation in IBM Systems Director.”

To add an IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module that has not been
discovered, complete the following steps:
1. Discover and unlock a the system that you want to add the storage system to.
2. From any area that this system is displayed, such as the Resource Navigator,
click Actions > System Configuration > SMI-S Provider Configuration The
Managed Storage Systems page is displayed.
3. Click Add Storage Systems. The Add Storage System page is displayed.
4. In the Storage System Selection area, click Enter storage system information
manually.
5. Type the Primary controller IP address.
6. Type the Secondary controller IP address.
7. In the Storage System Login area, type a user ID and password for the system.
8. Click OK.

Provisioning storage from an existing storage subsystem


The task can be performed only for an IBM BladeCenter SAS RAID Controller
Module. This task does not apply to other systems or devices. This procedure
entails: creating a storage pool, defining one or more volumes, creating a host
system, mapping volumes to the host system.

Note that a storage volume is similar to a logical volume.

Locate the switch interface and make sure that the system is allowed (zoned) to
access the storage system on the SAN.

To provision storage from an existing storage subsystem, complete the following


steps:
1. Click Navigate Resources. The Navigate Resources page is displayed.
2. Select Groups by System Type. A table of groups is displayed.
3. Select Storage Systems. A table listing the different categories of storage
systems is displayed.
4. Select the appropriate storage group (an example is BladeCenter storage). A list
of the members of this group is displayed.
5. Select the storage system.
6. Click Actions > System Configuration > Storage Resources. The Storage page
includes these tabs:
v Volumes
v Storage Pools
v Hosts
v Disk Drives
v Configurations
7. Click the Volumes tab.
8. Click Actions > Create Volumes. The Create Volumes wizard is displayed.

556 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


9. Go through all the wizard pages, entering the correct options. (Choose Method,
Create Storage Pool, Defined Volumes, Map Volumes, and Summary).

Managing storage volumes in real time


You can create and delete storage volumes in real time. These changes are applied
immediately.

Deleting a storage volume in real time


For a specific active server, you can delete a storage volume using the Resource
Navigator.

Make sure that the server and its storage devices have been discovered and
unlocked.

Note that a storage volume is similar to a logical volume.

To delete a storage volume from a server, complete the following steps:


1. Click Navigate Resources. The Navigate Resources page is displayed.
2. Select All Systems. A list of discovered systems is displayed.
3. Select an IBM BladeCenter server.
4. Click Actions > System Configuration > Current Configuration. A table of all
the configuration settings for this system is displayed.
5. Click Storage Provisioning Configuration. The Storage Volumes page is
displayed.
6. Select one or more storage volumes to be deleted.
7. Click Actions > Delete Volumes. A confirmation popup is displayed.
8. Examine your choices carefully, then click OK. The selected storage volumes
are deleted from the volumes table.
9. Click Deploy. A job scheduler is displayed.
10. Enter job information, then click OK.
11. Monitor the job to ensure that it completes and review any error messages.

Creating a storage volume in real-time


For a specific active server, you can create storage volumes using the Resource
Navigator in real-time.

Make sure that the server and its storage devices must have been discovered and
unlocked.

Note that a storage volume is similar to a logical volume.

You can use these definitions for IBM BladeCenter installations that include
management modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided
might be made by way of the management module, but actually might affect other
components in the IBM BladeCenter environment, such as blade servers. All
settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To create a storage volume for a server, complete the following steps:


1. From the Resource Navigator, click System Configuration > Current
Configuration. A table with the current configuration is displayed.
2. Click Storage Provisioning Configuration. The Storage Volumes page is
displayed. If this server already has some storage volumes, they are displayed.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 557


3. Click Actions > Create Volumes. The Create Volumes wizard is displayed.
4. Optional: If the Welcome page is displayed, click Do not show this Welcome
page next time if you do not want to see the Welcome page again.
5. Choose a method for creating the new storage volume:
v Click Create volume from scratch to create a new storage volume by
manually specifying all necessary parameters.
v Click Create volume from a template and then choose a configuration
template to create a storage volume that will have the same definitions as
those that are stored in the configuration template. You will be able to
change some but not all of these definitions.
6. Follow the instructions for the task that you have selected in the previous step.
7. After the new volumes have been created, click Deploy in the Storage Volume
page. A job scheduler is displayed.
8. Enter job information, then click OK.
9. Wait for the process to complete and review all messages.

Creating a storage volume from scratch:

When creating a storage volume for a IBM BladeCenter server from scratch, you
must enter all necessary information about the storage volume.

To create a storage volume for an IBM BladeCenter server from scratch, complete
the following steps:
1. If you have not already done so, click Create volume from scratch from the
Choose Methods page. The Create from Scratch page is displayed.
2. Optional: Type a Volume name prefix. The volume name will be made by
appending a unique number to this prefix. This field must be ten or fewer
characters consisting only of letters, numbers, and the underscore character. If
this field is not specified, the first ten characters of the host name are used.
3. Click Identify this volume as the boot volume if you want this volume to be
the one that will be examined for the bootstrap code when a restart is
performed. You can choose this option only if the server currently has no
designated boot volume.
4. Specify the capacity of the storage volume in Gigabytes.
5. Specify the Volume RAID level:
v RAID 0
v RAID 1
v RAID 5
v RAID 0+1
6. Choose the Host operating system:
v AIX
v Linux
v Windows
7. Select a Storage type:
v Any
v Network - Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS)
v Network - Fibre Channel (FC)
v Network - Internet SCSI (iSCSI)
v IBM BladeCenter SAS

558 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


8. Select a Storage system:
v Click Let system choose to have IBM Systems Director choose the storage
system
v Click I will choose myself to choose from a table of storage systems that is
displayed. You can choose one or more entries from this table.
9. Click Next The Summary page is displayed.
10. Review the information on this page. If it is correct, click Finish. The Storage
Volume page is displayed, and the new volume is added into the volumes
table.

Creating a storage volume from a configuration template:

When creating a storage volume for a IBM BladeCenter server from a configuration
template, the definitions stored in the configuration template are displayed, and
you will be able to change some but not all of the attributes.

To create a storage volume for a IBM BladeCenter server from a configuration


template, complete the following steps:
1. If you have not already done so, navigate to the Create Volumes page.
2. Click Create volume from a template and then choose a configuration
template. The Create from Template page is displayed. The Base Template
name field is the name of configuration template that you have chosen.
3. Optional: The host operating system can be changed by clicking on one of
these choices:
v AIX
v Linux
v Windows
4. Examine the Table of Volumes Definitions that have been retrieved from the
configuration template. You will be creating one storage volume with the
same definition as each entry in this table, unless you delete or alter the table
entries.
5. Decide what changes to make to these storage volume definitions:
v To remove one or more storage volumes, click Remove Volume.
v To change a storage volume, click Edit Volume. Repeat if you want to
change more than one.
v To add a storage volume, click Add Volume. Repeat if you want to add
more than one.
6. Optional: If you did not select to Add Volume or Edit Volume for one or
more storage volumes, proceed to Step 12 on page 560.
7. Change or specify the Volume name prefix. The volume name will be made
by appending a unique number to this prefix. This field must be ten or fewer
characters consisting only of letters, numbers, and the underscore character. If
this field is not specified, the first ten characters of the host name are used.
8. Specify the capacity of the storage volume in Gigabytes.
9. Specify the Volume RAID level:
v RAID 0
v RAID 1
v RAID 5
v RAID 0+1
10. Select a Storage type:

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 559


v Any
v Network - Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS)
v Network - Fibre Channel (FC)
v Network - Internet SCSI (iSCSI)
v IBM BladeCenter SAS
11. Select a Storage system:
v Click Let system choose to have IBM Systems Director choose the storage
system
v Click I will choose myself to choose from a table of storage systems that is
displayed. You can choose one or more entries from this table.
12. Click Finish. The Storage Volume page is displayed, and the new volumes are
added into the volumes table.

Configuring iSCSI components in real time


Configuring iSCSI components consists of configuring iSCSI initiators, iSCSI
targets, and their mappings. Both iSCSI V1 and iSCSI V2 are supported by IBM
Systems Director. At least one blade and one initiator must be configured. Make
sure that all the initiators are mapped to at least one target, except for initiators of
type ALL DHCP.

You can use these definitions for IBM BladeCenter installations that include
management modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided
might be made by way of the management module, but actually might affect other
components in the IBM BladeCenter environment, such as blade servers. All
settings might not be applicable for the supported components.

To configure Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) components in real


time, complete the following steps:
1. Click Navigate Resources > Groups > All Systems. A list of systems is
displayed.
2. Select a system and double-click its link. A list of attached devices is displayed.
3. Select a system that has attached iSCSI components.
4. Click Actions > System Configuration > Current Configuration. A list of the
current configuration for this system is displayed.
5. Select the entry whose Configuration Settings title is: iSCSI Config.
6. Click Edit.
7. Click Continue. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed.
8. Select each Step and enter all necessary information.
9. Click Deploy to save these changes to the iSCSI components.

Configuring iSCSI targets


An iSCSI target is responsible for responding to storage requests such as reads or
writes. Typically, the target is a storage controller containing disks that respond to
storage requests. Configuring iSCSI targets consists of providing a location and
means to access to the iSCSI target.

To configure iSCSI targets, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Targets on the Blade Server
iSCSI Configuration page. The Target page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Target page is displayed.

560 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


3. Type a descriptive name for the iSCSI target that you are configuring to
receive storage requests in the Target Description field. This name must be
unique from the other iSCSI targets.
4. Type the IP address of the iSCSI target in the IP Address field.
5. Type the port number that identifies the iSCSI target in the TCP Port field.
The value is a number between 0 and 65535.
6. Type the logical unit number (LUN) from which your iSCSI target will boot in
the Boot LUN field. LUN number has the format of XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX,
where X is hexadecimal digit.
7. Type the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) for the iSCSI target. The IQN can be in
IQN format or EUI format.
IQN format shows the address with a prefix of iqn. followed by a naming
identifier. An example is: iqn.this_is_my_node.
EUI format is a 16-digit hexadecimal value with a prefix of eui. An example
is: eui.0123456790ABCDEF.
8. Select the security type:
v None - No security is defined. This is the default option.
v One way - The target authenticates the initiator.
v Mutual - The initiator authenticates the target, and the target authenticates
the initiator.
9. If a Security type other than None was selected, type the Challenge
Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) identifier to be used for iSCSI
communication in the CHAP ID field. The CHAP ID can have up to 16 ASCII
characters.
10. If a Security type other than None was selected, type the password that
corresponds to the CHAP ID in the Password field.
11. If a Security type other than None was selected, type the same password in
the Confirm Password field.
12. Click OK. The Target page is displayed again.
13. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
14. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
15. Click the next step in the list.

Configuring iSCSI initiator DHCP settings


An iSCSI initiator is responsible for issuing storage requests such as reads or
writes. Typically the initiator is a server or client system requesting information
from an iSCSI target. Configuring iSCSI initiator Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP) settings consists of configuring various IP addresses and other
parameters.

To configure iSCSI initiator DHCP settings, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Initiators DHCP on the Blade
Server iSCSI Configuration page. The Initiator DHCP page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Initiator DHCP page is displayed.
3. Type a description of the iSCSI Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
initiator that you want to configure in the Name field. This name must be
unique from other initiators.
4. Select the type of initiator:
v Hardware - iSCSI Host Bus Adapter (HBA), which is responsible for
protocol processing and uses dedicated ports as the transport media.
Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 561
v Software - A device driver using TCP/IP on Ethernet network adapters to
send SCSI commands to issue storage requests, such as reads or writes.
5. Select the client ID from which IP parameters are obtained on the DHCP
server. Choose from the following options:
v Ethernet MAC - The IP parameters are obtained from the Ethernet MAC
address. This is the default.
v Scope/vendor ID - The IP parameters are obtained from the Scope/vendor
ID.
v Client Alternate ID - Type the client ID.
6. Optional: Type the Scope ID or the Vendor ID of the DHCP server from which
IP parameter information for the iSCSI DHCP initiator is to be obtained. This
field is optional, but provides more specific information for obtaining IP
parameters.
7. Click Custom DHCP Security to customize security and internet protocol for
your DHCP server. This overrides settings that might already exist on the
DHCP initiator.
8. If the DHCP server is on a virtual LAN (VLAN), type the VLAN identifier.
The VLAN ID is used for the initiator to access the iSCSI parameters from the
DHCP server on the VLAN.
9. Type the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) identifier to
be used for iSCSI communication in the CHAP ID field. The CHAP ID can
have up to 16 ASCII characters
10. Type the password that corresponds to the CHAP ID in the Password field.
11. Type the same password in the Confirm Password field.
12. Click Custom IP Settings to define specific IP settings for the iSCSI initiator.
13. Select the Discovery IP Address Usage. This is the type of discovery service
that iSCSI initiator is to use. You can choose from the following options:
v DHCP Server - Indicates that a DHCP server will be accessed by the
discovery IP address. This is the default option.
v SLP Server - Indicates that a Service Location Protocol (SLP) server will be
accessed by the discovery IP address.
v ISNS Server - Indicates that an Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) service
will be accessed by the discovery IP address.
14. Type the IP address of the iSCSI initiator in the IP Address field.
15. Type the IP address of the specific DHCP server from which you want to
access iSCSI parameters in the Discovery IP Address field. This is an optional
field that is used for additional control during discovery.
16. Click OK. The Initiator DHCP page is displayed again.
17. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
18. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
19. Click the next step in the list.

Configuring iSCSI initiator VPD settings


An iSCSI initiator is responsible for issuing storage requests such as reads or
writes. Typically the initiator is a server or client system requesting information
from an iSCSI target. Configuring iSCSI initiator VPD settings consists of
specifying IP addresses and other parameters of iSCSI initiator that will be stored
in VPD and retrieved by the BIOS during startup.

To configure iSCSI initiator DHCP settings, complete the following steps:

562 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Initiators VPD on the Blade
Server iSCSI Configuration page. The Initiator VPD page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Initiator VPD page is displayed.
3. Type a description of the iSCSI Vital Product Data (VPD) initiator that you
want to configure in the Name field. This name must be unique from other
initiators.
4. Select the type of initiator:
v Hardware - iSCSI Host Bus Adapter (HBA), which is responsible for
protocol processing and uses dedicated ports as the transport media.
v Software - A device driver using TCP/IP on Ethernet network adapters to
send SCSI commands to issue storage requests, such as reads or writes.
5. Type the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) for the iSCSI initiator. The IQN can be
in IQN format or EUI format.
IQN format shows the address with a leading iqn. prefix followed by a
naming identifier. An example is: iqn.this_is_my_node.
EUI format is a 16-digit hexadecimal value with the leading prefix of eui. An
example is: eui.0123456790ABCDEF.
6. Type the IP address of the iSCSI initiator in the IP Address field.
7. Type the Subnet mask for the local network in the Subnet Mask field.
8. Type the Gateway address for the iSCSI initiator in the Gateway field.
9. Type the virtual LAN ID that is used for iSCSI traffic within the subnet.
10. Click Use Boot LUN Information from the Target to indicate that the initiator
can access the target's boot LUN information.
11. Type the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) identifier to
be used for iSCSI communication in the CHAP ID field. The CHAP ID can
have up to 16 ASCII characters
12. Type the password that corresponds to the CHAP ID in the Password field.
13. Type the same password in the Confirm Password field.
14. Click OK. The Initiator VPD page is displayed again.
15. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
16. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
17. Click the next step in the list.

Configuring iSCSI initiator-to-target mappings


Mapping is the process of assigning iSCSI targets to iSCSI initiators. Each initiator
can be assigned up to two targets.

At least one blade and one initiator must be configured. Make sure that all the
initiators are mapped to at least one target, except for initiators of type ALL DHCP.

To configure iSCSI initiator-to-target mappings, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Mappings on the Blade Server
iSCSI Configuration page. The initiator-to-target mappings page is displayed.
2. Select the initiator from the table, then click Actions > Edit. A popup menu is
displayed for you to select targets.
3. Select the iSCSI target that you want the initiator to attempt to contact first in
the Target 1 field.
4. Type the number of times the initiator can attempt to contact this target in the
Retry Count field. Valid values are numbers 0 through 15.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 563


5. In the Target 1 Timeout field, select from the following values for the number
of milliseconds (ms) that the initiator will attempt to contact the target before
timing out:
v 100 ms
v 200 ms
v 500 ms
v 2000 ms
v 20000 ms
6. Select the iSCSI target that you want the initiator to attempt to contact if it is
unable to access the first target, in the Target 2 field. Do not specify the same
target in both Target 1 and Target 2 fields.
7. Type the number of times that the initiator can attempt to contact this target
in the Retry Count field. Valid values are numbers 0 through 15.
8. In the Target 2 Timeout field, select from the following values for the number
of milliseconds (ms) that the initiator will attempt to contact the target before
timing out:
v 100 ms
v 200 ms
v 500 ms
v 2000 ms
v 20000 ms
9. Click OK. The initiator-to-target mappings page is displayed again.
10. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
11. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
12. Click the next step in the list.

Configuring iSCSI blade servers


Configuring iSCSI blade servers consists of specifying a name, bay, and other
information used to boot using the iSCSI protocol.

To configure iSCSI blade servers, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Blades on the Blade Server
iSCSI Configuration page. The Blade page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Blade page is displayed.
3. In the Name field, type something meaningful to describe the blade server
that you are configuring.
4. In the bay field, type the slot number of the blade that you are configuring.
5. In each of the four Initiator Attempt fields, select an iSCSI initiator. These
initiators are used for boot attempts, and are tried in order from 1 to 4.
6. In each of the Port Attempt fields, select corresponding port for each of the
initiator boot attempts. Valid values are 0 through 3.
7. Click OK. The Blade page is displayed again.
8. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
9. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
10. Click Save to save your changes.

564 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Configuring IBM BladeCenter SAS zone connectivity in real
time
You can change IBM BladeCenter SAS zone information by obtaining it from the
hardware, making changes, then copying the SAS zone information back to the
hardware.

You can use these definitions for IBM BladeCenter installations that include
advanced management modules only. The settings provided might be made by
way of the advanced management module, but actually affect the SAS switch.

To configure IBM BladeCenter SAS zone information in real time, complete the
following steps:
1. Click Navigate Resources > Groups > All Systems. A list of systems is
displayed.
2. Select a system and double-click its link. A list of attached devices is
displayed.
3. Select a IBM BladeCenter chassis.
4. Click Actions > System Configuration > Current Configuration. A list of the
current configuration for this IBM BladeCenter chassis is displayed.
5. Select the entry whose Configuration Settings title is: SAS Connectivity
Module Zone Configuration.
6. Click Edit.
7. Wait while IBM Systems Director gathers the information from the IBM
BladeCenter hardware. The SAS Connectivity Module Zone Configuration
page is displayed with the current information for this IBM BladeCenter
chassis.
8. Examine all the information on this page. Take note of the chassis type, I/O
module type, I/O modules, and which SAS configuration store is the Active
one.
9. Select the SAS configuration store that you want to change and click Actions
> Edit. Any of the SAS configuration stores can be edited, but changes made
to predefined SAS configuration stores must be saved in one of the four
user-defined SAS configuration stores. The Blades - External Ports page is
displayed.
10. Select one of the blades to permit access to an External SAS module port, by
clicking on the blade number beneath the blade icon. When access is not
permitted, this is indicated by a blank square instead of the number of the
blade.
11. Select the SAS module ports that this blade can access, or click Select all to
select all ports for this blade.
12. Optional: If a port or blade is selected in error, click it again to remove it.
13. Optional: Repeat this process for each blade that you want to permit SAS
module port access.
14. If an I/O module type of SAS RAID Module is present:
a. Click the Blades - RAID tab.
b. Choose a blade and click the number below its icon.
c. Click the RAID subsystem icon to permit that blade to access the RAID
subsystem.
d. Repeat this process for all blades that are to access the RAID subsystem.
e. Click OK.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 565


15. If an I/O module type of SAS Connectivity Module is present:
a. Click the Blades - Disks tab.
b. Choose a blade and click the number below its icon.
c. Choose the disks that you want to permit this blade to access by clicking
the disk icon.
d. Repeat this process for all blades that are to access the disks.
e. Click OK.
16. If at any time in this process you want to reset the SAS zone configuration to
the values that were first displayed when the information was obtained from
the IBM BladeCenter hardware, click Reset.
17. Click OK. The Save Configuration page is displayed.
18. Select a SAS configuration store index. Valid values are 1, 2, 3, and 4. Only
these SAS configuration stores can be changed, because all the others are
predefined and cannot be modified.
v If you had been making changes to a predefined SAS configuration store,
you are asked to select one of the user-defined SAS configuration stores to
receive your changes.
v If you had been making changes to a user-defined SAS configuration store,
you cannot change the index of the SAS configuration store, but you can
change the Nickname and Description.
19. Type a Nickname whose length does not exceed 24 characters.
20. Type a Description whose length does not exceed 255 characters.
21. Click Deploy. The SAS Connectivity Module Zone Configuration page is
displayed again. If you have made a change, all changed SAS configuration
stores will have a status of Pending.
22. Optional: If you want a store to become the Active one, select it and click
Actions > Activate.
23. If the changes that you have made are correct, click Save. A job scheduler is
displayed.
24. Enter job information.
25. Click OK.
26. Monitor the job to ensure that it completes and review any error messages.

Managing storage with configuration templates


Storage configuration templates are used to specify storage definitions, such as
storage volume definitions and SAS zoning. These configuration templates are
stored by IBM Systems Director and can then be deployed to the associated storage
devices. The configuration manager is used to create and manage these
configuration templates.

Storage configuration templates can be created only for certain storage devices and
functions. When you create a storage configuration template, a list of choices is
displayed.

Viewing storage configuration templates


You can view the details of a storage configuration template from the configuration
manager.
1. From the Configuration Summary page, locate the Configuration Tasks pane
and click View Configuration Templates. A table of configuration templates is
displayed.

566 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. Locate the storage configuration templates, which have a template type of .
v Storage Provisioning Configuration for storage volumes
v iSCSI Config for iSCSI devices
v SAN Configuration for SAN configuration mapping
v SAS Connectivity Module Zone Configuration for SAS zoning
3. Select a configuration template.
4. Click Actions > Edit to see details.
5. Click Cancel when you are finished.

Changing storage configuration templates


You can change the information in a storage configuration template from the
configuration manager.
1. From the Configuration Manager Summary page, locate the Configuration
Tasks pane and click View Configuration Templates. A table of configuration
templates is displayed.
2. Select the storage configuration template that you are going to change.
3. To see details, click Actions > Edit
4. Make changes to the configuration template, and click OK when you are
finished.

Creating a configuration template for a storage volume


A configuration template containing the definitions for a storage volume defined
on a IBM BladeCenter is created using the configuration manager. One
configuration template can be used to define more than one storage volume.

Note that a storage volume is similar to a logical volume.

You can use this configuration template for IBM BladeCenter installations that
include management modules or advanced management modules. The settings
provided by this configuration template might be made by way of the
management module, but actually might affect other components in the IBM
BladeCenter environment, such as blade servers. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components.

To create a configuration template for a storage volume, complete the following


steps:
1. From the Configuration Summary page, locate the Configuration Tasks pane
and click Create a Template.
2. Choose the appropriate target type.
3. Type and Name and Description for the new configuration template.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, choose Storage provisioning.
5. Choose whether you want the Automatically Deploy feature.
6. Click Continue. The Add volume to template page is displayed.
7. Fill in all necessary volume information.
8. Wait for the process to complete and review all messages.
9. When you are finished, click Save. The Volumes page is displayed, with the
new storage volume in the table.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 567


Managing IBM BladeCenter SAN configuration mapping
You can modify the IBM BladeCenter Storage Area Network (SAN) mapping in
either real time or using configuration templates. You cannot modify the SAN
configuration itself using the IBM Systems Director Web interface, just the
mapping, which is the information about which blades are to have their SAN
configuration saved in the IBM Systems Director Server.

SAN Configuration profiles and SAN configuration mapping


SAN devices and SAN configuration profiles are used to ensure efficient sharing of
secondary storage devices among IBM BladeCenter servers. SAN configuration
mapping is used to determine which blades of an IBM BladeCenter will have their
SAN configuration saved in the IBM Systems Director Server.

The replace and remap function is used in case a blade fails. Its SAN configuration
(stored in the IBM Systems Director Server) is “re-mapped” before it replaces the
SAN configuration on the new blade. That is, the existing blade-specific
information in the SAN configuration is replaced with blade-specific information
about the new blade. The modified SAN configuration is then copied to the new
blade, and the SAN will be able to work with the new blade in the same way that
it worked with the original blade.

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a network of shared storage devices. They are
shared by a number of servers (IBM BladeCenter blades in this case). Storage
devices contain many disk drives. The intent is to configure the servers to use as
much disk space as each server needs to do its intended job. A SAN can be
re-configured later if the needs of one or more of the servers change. A SAN can
become very complex. The IBM BladeCenter chassis contains devices that help
manage communication (for example, switches and management modules), and
provides for security. A user might be able to work only with a certain subset of
the hardware.

The configuration of a SAN from the viewpoint of an IBM BladeCenter server is


described by a SAN Configuration Profile, which resides on each IBM BladeCenter
server that is configured to participate in the SAN. This SAN Configuration Profile
describes which switches and storage devices are associated with this server. A
SAN Configuration Profile is a very complex description containing very long port
numbers. The typical datacenter has an extensive bank of IBM BladeCenter chassis
containing servers and storage arrays.

IBM Systems Director controls the SAN configuration using storage commands.
The IBM Systems Director Web interface does not manage the SAN configuration
itself. The IBM Systems Director Web interface does manage SAN configuration
mapping, which is used to implement the Replace and Remap function.

SAN configuration mapping is not the SAN Configuration profile itself. SAN
configuration mapping specifies which blades of the IBM BladeCenter will have
their SAN configuration information saved in the IBM Systems Director Server,
and which will not have their SAN configuration information saved in the IBM
Systems Director Server (most likely because there is no SAN or a particular blade
does not connect to it).

Replace and remap is used if one of the blades suffers a failure and must be
replaced, an another blade is inserted in place of the failing one. Replace and
remap is implemented this way:

568 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. The SAN Configuration Profiles for each configured IBM BladeCenter bay is
queried and a copy saved in the IBM Systems Director Server.
2. Because Automatically deploy is set (unless it was disabled), the IBM
BladeCenter chassis is notified of 'device removed' and 'device inserted' events
when the damaged hardware is removed and replaced with a working device.
a. When the damaged blade is removed, the 'device removed' event causes
this blade to be 'detached' from the SAN.
b. When a new blade is inserted, the 'device inserted' event causes the new
blade's information to be compared to the saved copy of the
damaged-blade's SAN Configuration Profile. The SAN Configuration Profile
would be updated with the new blade's hardware-specific information and
applied to the new blade.
c. The new blade would then work with the SAN in the same manner that the
failing one had worked.

If you want to work with a configuration template that contains SAN configuration
mapping, you must create one.

Creating a SAN configuration mapping configuration template for


an IBM BladeCenter system
Create a Storage Area Network (SAN) configuration mapping configuration
template that can be deployed when replacing IBM BladeCenter devices. It is not
the SAN configuration itself that is saved in the configuration template, but an
indication of which blades will have their SAN configuration saved in the IBM
Systems Director Server.

As part of creating a configuration plan for your IBM BladeCenter, you must
include a SAN Configuration mapping configuration template.

Note: If a switch has been configured to use security, the SAN configuration
template cannot be automatically deployed on blade deletion or insertion events.

You can use this configuration template for IBM BladeCenter installations that
include management modules or advanced management modules. The settings
provided by this configuration template might be made by way of the
management module, but actually might affect other components in the IBM
BladeCenter environment, such as blade servers. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components. Only advanced management modules
provide applicable settings for the following chassis models:
v IBM BladeCenter E chassis
v IBM BladeCenter H chassis
v IBM BladeCenter S chassis

To create a SAN configuration mapping configuration template, complete the


following steps:
1. From the Configuration Summary page, locate the Configuration Tasks pane
and click Create a Template. The Configuration Templates page is displayed.
2. Click Create.
3. Choose a target type of BladeCenter Chassis, BladeCenter H Chassis, or
BladeCenter S Chassis.
4. Select SAN Configuration from the configuration template list.
5. Type a unique name and description for the new configuration template.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 569


Note: If you deselect Automatically deploy this configuration template
when notified of a matching resource, this configuration will not be notified
when a relevant blade event occurs. Therefore, its intended function will not
be carried out.
6. Click Continue. The SAN Configuration page is displayed.
7. Select the bays that will have their SAN configuration saved to the IBM
Systems Director Server.
v Select one or more bays.
v Click Select all bays to select all of them.
8. Optional: If you have selected a bay in error, click it again to remove it.
9. Click Save. The Configuration Templates page is displayed with the new
configuration template.
10. Select the new configuration template.
11. Click Actions > Add to Configuration Plan.
v Click Add selected configuration templates to an existing plan to put this
configuration template in an existing configuration plan. Choose the
configuration plan from the list.
v Click Add selected configuration templates to a new configuration plan to
create a new configuration plan with this configuration template as a
member. Type a name and description for the new configuration plan.
12. Optional: Click Open Configuration Plan list when done saving if you want
to go to the Configuration Plans page when this task is finished. If this is not
selected, you will be returned to the Configuration Templates page.
13. Click OK. The new SAN Configuration mapping configuration template is
added to the configuration plan.

While automatically deploy is active and a blade in a monitored bay is removed or


inserted, the SAN configuration will be automatically updated.

Modifying an existing IBM BladeCenter SAN configuration


mapping and saving the changes to a configuration template
If it becomes necessary to modify the SAN configuration mapping for an IBM
BladeCenter, use this procedure. Each IBM BladeCenter system is shipped with a
default SAN configuration mapping. There is no need to create one, but you might
want to change the default one to suit your needs.

You cannot obtain the current SAN configuration mapping, modify it, and then put
it back to the IBM BladeCenter. This is not supported. However, you can obtain the
current SAN configuration mapping, modify it, and then save the changes to a
configuration template. This configuration template can later be deployed on the
hardware, or used with the Automatically deploy feature.

You can use these definitions for IBM BladeCenter installations that include
management modules or advanced management modules. The settings provided
might be made by way of the management module, but actually might affect other
components in the IBM BladeCenter environment, such as blade servers. All
settings might not be applicable for the supported components. Only advanced
management modules provide applicable settings for the following chassis models:
v IBM BladeCenter E chassis
v IBM BladeCenter H chassis
v IBM BladeCenter S chassis

570 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To modify the SAN configuration mapping of an IBM BladeCenter system,
complete the following steps:
1. Click Navigate Resources > Groups > All Systems. A list of systems is
displayed.
2. Select a system and double-click its link. A list of attached devices is
displayed.
3. Select a IBM BladeCenter chassis.
4. Click Actions > System Configuration > Current Configuration. A list of the
current configuration for this IBM BladeCenter chassis is displayed.
5. Select the entry whose Configuration Settings title is: SAN Configuration.
6. Click Save as Configuration Template.
7. Type a unique name and description for the new configuration template.
8. Optional: If you want the new configuration template to be automatically
deployed, click Automatically deploy this configuration template when
notified of a matching resource.
9. Click Continue. The SAN Configuration page is displayed with the current
information for this IBM BladeCenter chassis.
10. Examine all the information on this page.
11. Select the bays that will be monitored for replace and remap:
v Select one or more bays.
v Click Select all bays to select all of them.
12. Optional: To reset the SAN configuration mapping to the values that were first
displayed when the information was obtained from the IBM BladeCenter
hardware, click Reset.
13. Optional: If you have selected a bay in error, click it again to remove it.
14. If the changes that you have made are correct, click Save. The Configuration
Templates page is displayed with the new configuration.

Configuring iSCSI components using configuration template


Configuring iSCSI components consists of configuring iSCSI initiators, iSCSI
targets, and their mappings. Both iSCSI V1 and iSCSI V2 are supported by IBM
Systems Director. At least one blade and one initiator must be configured. Make
sure that all the initiators are mapped to at least one target, except for initiators of
type ALL DHCP.

You can use this configuration template for IBM BladeCenter installations that
include management modules or advanced management modules. The settings
provided by this configuration template might be made by way of the
management module, but actually might affect other components in the IBM
BladeCenter environment, such as blade servers. All settings might not be
applicable for the supported components.

To configure Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) components using a


configuration template, complete the following steps:
1. From the Configuration Summary page, locate the Configuration Tasks pane
and click Create a Template.
2. Choose the appropriate target type.
3. Type and Name and Description for the new configuration template.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, choose iSCSI Config.
5. Click Continue. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 571


6. Select each Step and enter all necessary information.
7. Click Save to save these changes to the configuration template. If you exit this
page without clicking Save, your data is lost.

Configuring iSCSI targets


An iSCSI target is responsible for responding to storage requests such as reads or
writes. Typically, the target is a storage controller containing disks that respond to
storage requests. Configuring iSCSI targets consists of providing a location and
means to access to the iSCSI target.

To configure iSCSI targets, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Targets on the Blade Server
iSCSI Configuration page. The Target page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Target page is displayed.
3. Type a descriptive name for the iSCSI target that you are configuring to
receive storage requests in the Target Description field. This name must be
unique from the other iSCSI targets.
4. Type the IP address of the iSCSI target in the IP Address field.
5. Type the port number that identifies the iSCSI target in the TCP Port field.
The value is a number between 0 and 65535.
6. Type the logical unit number (LUN) from which your iSCSI target will boot in
the Boot LUN field. LUN number has the format of XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX,
where X is hexadecimal digit.
7. Type the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) for the iSCSI target. The IQN can be in
IQN format or EUI format.
IQN format shows the address with a prefix of iqn. followed by a naming
identifier. An example is: iqn.this_is_my_node.
EUI format is a 16-digit hexadecimal value with a prefix of eui. An example
is: eui.0123456790ABCDEF.
8. Select the security type:
v None - No security is defined. This is the default option.
v One way - The target authenticates the initiator.
v Mutual - The initiator authenticates the target, and the target authenticates
the initiator.
9. If a Security type other than None was selected, type the Challenge
Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) identifier to be used for iSCSI
communication in the CHAP ID field. The CHAP ID can have up to 16 ASCII
characters.
10. If a Security type other than None was selected, type the password that
corresponds to the CHAP ID in the Password field.
11. If a Security type other than None was selected, type the same password in
the Confirm Password field.
12. Click OK. The Target page is displayed again.
13. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
14. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
15. Click the next step in the list.

Configuring iSCSI initiator DHCP settings


An iSCSI initiator is responsible for issuing storage requests such as reads or
writes. Typically the initiator is a server or client system requesting information

572 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


from an iSCSI target. Configuring iSCSI initiator Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP) settings consists of configuring various IP addresses and other
parameters.

To configure iSCSI initiator DHCP settings, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Initiators DHCP on the Blade
Server iSCSI Configuration page. The Initiator DHCP page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Initiator DHCP page is displayed.
3. Type a description of the iSCSI Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
initiator that you want to configure in the Name field. This name must be
unique from other initiators.
4. Select the type of initiator:
v Hardware - iSCSI Host Bus Adapter (HBA), which is responsible for
protocol processing and uses dedicated ports as the transport media.
v Software - A device driver using TCP/IP on Ethernet network adapters to
send SCSI commands to issue storage requests, such as reads or writes.
5. Select the client ID from which IP parameters are obtained on the DHCP
server. Choose from the following options:
v Ethernet MAC - The IP parameters are obtained from the Ethernet MAC
address. This is the default.
v Scope/vendor ID - The IP parameters are obtained from the Scope/vendor
ID.
v Client Alternate ID - Type the client ID.
6. Optional: Type the Scope ID or the Vendor ID of the DHCP server from which
IP parameter information for the iSCSI DHCP initiator is to be obtained. This
field is optional, but provides more specific information for obtaining IP
parameters.
7. Click Custom DHCP Security to customize security and internet protocol for
your DHCP server. This overrides settings that might already exist on the
DHCP initiator.
8. If the DHCP server is on a virtual LAN (VLAN), type the VLAN identifier.
The VLAN ID is used for the initiator to access the iSCSI parameters from the
DHCP server on the VLAN.
9. Type the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) identifier to
be used for iSCSI communication in the CHAP ID field. The CHAP ID can
have up to 16 ASCII characters
10. Type the password that corresponds to the CHAP ID in the Password field.
11. Type the same password in the Confirm Password field.
12. Click Custom IP Settings to define specific IP settings for the iSCSI initiator.
13. Select the Discovery IP Address Usage. This is the type of discovery service
that iSCSI initiator is to use. You can choose from the following options:
v DHCP Server - Indicates that a DHCP server will be accessed by the
discovery IP address. This is the default option.
v SLP Server - Indicates that a Service Location Protocol (SLP) server will be
accessed by the discovery IP address.
v ISNS Server - Indicates that an Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) service
will be accessed by the discovery IP address.
14. Type the IP address of the iSCSI initiator in the IP Address field.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 573


15. Type the IP address of the specific DHCP server from which you want to
access iSCSI parameters in the Discovery IP Address field. This is an optional
field that is used for additional control during discovery.
16. Click OK. The Initiator DHCP page is displayed again.
17. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
18. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
19. Click the next step in the list.

Configuring iSCSI initiator VPD settings


An iSCSI initiator is responsible for issuing storage requests such as reads or
writes. Typically the initiator is a server or client system requesting information
from an iSCSI target. Configuring iSCSI initiator VPD settings consists of
specifying IP addresses and other parameters of iSCSI initiator that will be stored
in VPD and retrieved by the BIOS during startup.

To configure iSCSI initiator DHCP settings, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Initiators VPD on the Blade
Server iSCSI Configuration page. The Initiator VPD page is displayed.
2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Initiator VPD page is displayed.
3. Type a description of the iSCSI Vital Product Data (VPD) initiator that you
want to configure in the Name field. This name must be unique from other
initiators.
4. Select the type of initiator:
v Hardware - iSCSI Host Bus Adapter (HBA), which is responsible for
protocol processing and uses dedicated ports as the transport media.
v Software - A device driver using TCP/IP on Ethernet network adapters to
send SCSI commands to issue storage requests, such as reads or writes.
5. Type the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) for the iSCSI initiator. The IQN can be
in IQN format or EUI format.
IQN format shows the address with a leading iqn. prefix followed by a
naming identifier. An example is: iqn.this_is_my_node.
EUI format is a 16-digit hexadecimal value with the leading prefix of eui. An
example is: eui.0123456790ABCDEF.
6. Type the IP address of the iSCSI initiator in the IP Address field.
7. Type the Subnet mask for the local network in the Subnet Mask field.
8. Type the Gateway address for the iSCSI initiator in the Gateway field.
9. Type the virtual LAN ID that is used for iSCSI traffic within the subnet.
10. Click Use Boot LUN Information from the Target to indicate that the initiator
can access the target's boot LUN information.
11. Type the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) identifier to
be used for iSCSI communication in the CHAP ID field. The CHAP ID can
have up to 16 ASCII characters
12. Type the password that corresponds to the CHAP ID in the Password field.
13. Type the same password in the Confirm Password field.
14. Click OK. The Initiator VPD page is displayed again.
15. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
16. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
17. Click the next step in the list.

574 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Configuring iSCSI initiator-to-target mappings
Mapping is the process of assigning iSCSI targets to iSCSI initiators. Each initiator
can be assigned up to two targets.

At least one blade and one initiator must be configured. Make sure that all the
initiators are mapped to at least one target, except for initiators of type ALL DHCP.

To configure iSCSI initiator-to-target mappings, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Mappings on the Blade Server
iSCSI Configuration page. The initiator-to-target mappings page is displayed.
2. Select the initiator from the table, then click Actions > Edit. A popup menu is
displayed for you to select targets.
3. Select the iSCSI target that you want the initiator to attempt to contact first in
the Target 1 field.
4. Type the number of times the initiator can attempt to contact this target in the
Retry Count field. Valid values are numbers 0 through 15.
5. In the Target 1 Timeout field, select from the following values for the number
of milliseconds (ms) that the initiator will attempt to contact the target before
timing out:
v 100 ms
v 200 ms
v 500 ms
v 2000 ms
v 20000 ms
6. Select the iSCSI target that you want the initiator to attempt to contact if it is
unable to access the first target, in the Target 2 field. Do not specify the same
target in both Target 1 and Target 2 fields.
7. Type the number of times that the initiator can attempt to contact this target
in the Retry Count field. Valid values are numbers 0 through 15.
8. In the Target 2 Timeout field, select from the following values for the number
of milliseconds (ms) that the initiator will attempt to contact the target before
timing out:
v 100 ms
v 200 ms
v 500 ms
v 2000 ms
v 20000 ms
9. Click OK. The initiator-to-target mappings page is displayed again.
10. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
11. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
12. Click the next step in the list.

Configuring iSCSI blade servers


Configuring iSCSI blade servers consists of specifying a name, bay, and other
information used to boot using the iSCSI protocol.

To configure iSCSI blade servers, complete the following steps:


1. If you have not already done so, click Define Blades on the Blade Server
iSCSI Configuration page. The Blade page is displayed.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 575


2. Click Actions > Create. The Create iSCSI Blade page is displayed.
3. In the Name field, type something meaningful to describe the blade server
that you are configuring.
4. In the bay field, type the slot number of the blade that you are configuring.
5. In each of the four Initiator Attempt fields, select an iSCSI initiator. These
initiators are used for boot attempts, and are tried in order from 1 to 4.
6. In each of the Port Attempt fields, select corresponding port for each of the
initiator boot attempts. Valid values are 0 through 3.
7. Click OK. The Blade page is displayed again.
8. Verify the information on this page. If anything is incorrect, click Edit to make
changes.
9. Click OK. The Blade Server iSCSI Configuration page is displayed again.
10. Click Save to save your changes.

Managing IBM BladeCenter SAS zone configuration


IBM BladeCenter Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) zone configuration can be performed
using configuration templates, or in real time. SAS zone information is used to
restrict the visibility of some devices by others; specifically to restrict disks and
external ports seen by blades.

You can use these definitions for IBM BladeCenter installations that include
advanced management modules only. The settings provided might be made by
way of the advanced management module, but actually affect the SAS switch.

SAS zoning and SAS configuration stores


Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) zoning is a way to limit which blades of an IBM
BladeCenter can access which disks and external ports. SAS zoning values are
maintained in SAS configuration stores on the SAS Connectivity Modules.

Before proceeding, review this information:


v This Web site has the IBM BladeCenter information pertaining to SAS zoning:
publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/topic/
com.ibm.bladecenter.8886.doc/dw1fs_r_integrated_storage_planning.html.
v Each IBM BladeCenter is shipped with SAS zoning information contained in a
set of SAS configuration stores. You do not need to create this information, but it
is advisable to review it to see that it matches your needs.
v You cannot alter the quantity of SAS configuration stores. Each SAS connectivity
module contains 14 SAS configuration stores. There are four user-defined
configurations in addition to the nine predefined configurations. However, only
those that are used to represent your particular server, switch, and attached
devices contain useful information, and are displayed by IBM Systems Director.
You will not see all of them for any configuration.
v You cannot alter the index number of the SAS configuration stores. They are
numbered 1 through 14. No configuration will display all of them at once. As an
example, a IBM BladeCenter H configuration has only SAS configuration stores 1
through 5.
v You cannot delete a SAS store or a set of them from the IBM BladeCenter
chassis.
v Only the user defined SAS configuration stores can be customized. All others are
predefined SAS configuration stores and cannot be changed. If you try to change
a predefined SAS configuration store, you are asked to save the changes in one
of the user-defined SAS configuration stores.

576 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v The icons and hardware representation on these pages vary depending on the
exact hardware model being configured, and the types of storage attached to the
SAS switch.
v There is no separate View and Edit function for SAS zoning. Use the Edit
function to view the details, then click Cancel when you are finished.

When using configuration templates with SAS zoning, take note of the following:
v To manage SAS zones using a configuration template, you must create the
configuration template.
v When you create this configuration template for the first time, the user-defined
SAS stores are filled with the factory-supplied defaults.
v Although you can always delete a configuration template, there is no way to
delete SAS stores or the SAS zoning information on the IBM BladeCenter
system.

When changing SAS stores in real time, take note of the following:
v When managing SAS zoning in real time, you do not create this information.
Instead, you obtain it from the hardware and make any necessary changes. The
first time that you view the SAS zone information, the user-defined SAS
configuration stores are filled with the factory-supplied defaults, and the
predefined SAS configuration stores are filled with their predefined values.

Status values for a SAS store

A SAS store could have one or more status values. Every SAS store will not have a
status value at all times.
Active This is the currently active SAS store. Only one SAS store can be active on
an IBM BladeCenter SAS connectivity module at any time. This status is
available only when running in real time.
Activate
This SAS store has been designated to become the Active one. When
configuration changes are applied, the one that is currently Active will no
longer have the Active status. Only one store can have this status
(Activate) at any time.
Pending
This SAS store has been changed, but the changes have not yet been
applied to the IBM BladeCenter system. When the changes are applied, the
Pending status will be removed. A SAS store with the Active or Activate
status can also have a status of Pending.
Conflict
Indicates that the current configuration has two different active zones in
two SAS switches, which is not recommended. This status is available only
when there are two SAS switches.
An example is if the active zone on I/O module 3 is 1, and the active zone
on I/O module 4 is 2. This is a conflict. The I/O module 3 information is
used. This status is available only when running in real time.

Configuring IBM BladeCenter SAS zone connectivity using


configuration templates
Create a configuration template with the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) zone
information.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 577


To configure a SAS zoning configuration template, complete the following steps:
1. From the Configuration Summary page, locate the Configuration Tasks pane
and click Create a Template.
2. Choose the appropriate target type.
3. Type and Name and Description for the new configuration template.
4. In the Configuration to create a template list, choose SAS Connectivity
Module Zone Configuration.
5. Click Continue. The SAS Connectivity Module Zone Configuration page is
displayed.
6. Select the I/O module type. There are different values depending on the IBM
BladeCenter model that you are working with.
v For IBM BladeCenter chassis, IBM BladeCenter H chassis, IBM BladeCenter
HT chassis, and IBM BladeCenter T chassis, choose Base SAS Module.
v For IBM BladeCenter S chassis with a SAS module attached to a RAID,
choose RAID SAS Module.
v For IBM BladeCenter S chassis with a SAS module not attached to a RAID,
choose Non-RAID SAS Module.
7. Select the I/O module to which the SAS zone configuration configuration
template will apply. Valid values are I/O module 3, I/O module 4, or I/O
modules 3 and 4. The latter can be chosen only with IBM BladeCenter S
systems.
8. Select the SAS configuration store that you wish to change and click Actions >
Edit. Any of the SAS configuration stores can be edited, but changes made to
predefined SAS configurations stores must be saved in one of the four
user-defined SAS configuration stores. The Blades - External Ports page is
displayed.
9. Select one of the blades to permit access to an External SAS module port, by
clicking on the blade number beneath the blade icon.
10. Select the SAS module ports that this blade can access, or click Select all to
select all ports for this blade.
11. Optional: If a port or blade is selected in error, click it again to remove it.
12. Optional: Repeat this process for each blade that you want to permit SAS
module port access.
13. If an I/O module type of SAS RAID Module was selected:
a. Click the Blades - RAID tab.
b. Choose a blade and click the number below its icon.
c. Click the RAID subsystem icon to permit that blade to access to the RAID
subsystem.
d. Repeat this process for all blades that are to access the RAID subsystem.
e. Click OK.
14. If an I/O module type of SAS Connectivity Module was selected:
a. Click the Blades - Disks tab.
b. Choose a blade and click the number below its icon.
c. Choose the disks that you want to permit this blade to access by clicking
the disk icon.
d. Repeat this process for all blades that are to access the RAID subsystem.
e. Repeat this process for all blades that are to access the disks.
f. Click OK.
15. Click OK. The Save Configuration page is displayed.

578 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


16. Select a SAS configuration store. Valid values are 1, 2, 3, and 4. Only these
SAS configuration stores can be changed, because all the others are predefined
and cannot be modified.
v If you had been making changes to a predefined SAS configuration store,
you are asked to select one of the user-defined SAS configuration stores to
receive your changes.
v If you had been making changes to a user-defined SAS configuration store,
you cannot change the index of the SAS configuration store, but you can
change the Nickname and Description.
17. Type a Nickname whose length does not exceed 24 characters.
18. Type a Description whose length does not exceed 255 characters.
19. Click OK. The SAS Connectivity Module Zone Configuration page is
displayed again.
20. Optional: If you want a store to become the Active one when this
configuration template is deployed, select it and click Actions > Activate.
21. Click Save to save the changes to the configuration template.

Chapter 13. Managing and configuring storage 579


580 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments
As you monitor the health of your virtual environment, you can quickly respond
to problems by creating additional virtual servers, editing the resources that are
allocated to existing virtual servers, or relocating virtual servers to another host.
You can also perform power management tasks on your virtual servers.

With IBM Systems Director virtualization manager, you can work with virtualized
environments that are managed by the Hardware Management Console (HMC),
the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM), Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware,
and Xen virtualization.

As you monitor the total health of your environment, you might come across
issues that are specific to virtual resources. For example, when health status
indicates a warning or critical state for a virtual server, you can add processors or
memory resources that you have reserved for this situation. When you complete
the task, you can see your virtual server return to a healthy state. Alternatively,
you might be using the topology map view and see a warning or critical status on
a host that is depleting resources. You can take action from within the topology
map view. You might choose to relocate all of the virtual servers on the host to a
more robust host, until you can add more resources to the host.
Related concepts

IBM Systems Director VMControl

Virtual systems
This topic provides an overview of the different types of systems that you can
manage using IBM Systems Director virtualization manager.

Platform managers
A platform manager manages one or more host systems and their associated virtual
servers and operating systems.

Here are some examples of platform managers:


v IBM Hardware Management Console (HMC)
v IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
v VMware VirtualCenter

IBM Systems Director does not recognize a managed system as a platform manager
until the managed system has been unlocked. (The padlock icon in the Access
column for a managed system indicates that it is secured.) To request access to the
managed system, right-click the managed system and click Request Access. By
providing a valid user name that has local administrative rights to that managed
system and its password, you can unlock and access the system.

Note: Before you can manage a VMware VirtualCenter platform manager, you
must enter credentials to log in to VMware VirtualCenter server. You can do this
by using the Connect task.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 581


Virtual farms
A virtual farm logically groups like hosts and facilitates the relocation task —
moving a virtual server from one host to another host within the virtual farm.

A virtual farm can contain multiple hosts and their associated virtual servers. A
VMware VirtualCenter virtual farm can contain only hosts that are being managed
with the same type of virtualization manager subagent. For example, a virtual farm
that contains a host running virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX
Server can contain only other hosts that are also running virtualization manager
subagent for VMware ESX Server. When a virtual farm is configured, you can
relocate virtual servers between hosts in the farm.

You use the Create Virtual Farm wizard to group hosts together and enable
specialized capabilities for the virtual servers running on the hosts. You can enable
capabilities such as high availability, workload management, live relocation, and
static relocation. Not all capabilities are supported on all platforms.

IBM Systems Director farms in a VMware VirtualCenter


environment

During discovery, IBM Systems Director identifies a system that is running


VMware VirtualCenter server as a platform manager. Then, virtualization manager
subagent continues the discovery process to identify farms that are in a VMware
VirtualCenter environment. If necessary, you can manually request the discovery of
IBM Systems Director farms after IBM Systems Director has discovered a platform
manager. Alternatively, you can create IBM Systems Director farms for a platform
manager.

IBM Systems Director farms are not identical to farms in VMware VirtualCenter
because IBM Systems Director does not use the hierarchical model that VMware
VirtualCenter uses. VMware VirtualCenter supports collections of farms, which are
referred to as farm groups. This concept enables VMware VirtualCenter to present
farms in hierarchical groups within the VMware VirtualCenter client. However,
IBM Systems Director does not have a farm group concept and does not support
displaying the farm groups in the same type of farm hierarchy. When virtualization
manager subagent creates an IBM Systems Director farm for a VMware
VirtualCenter farm that is a member of one or more farm groups, the name of the
IBM Systems Director farm is displayed, but the hierarchy is not displayed. You
can find the full path that VMware VirtualCenter uses in the Virtualization
Properties. See the Vendor identifier field.

Note: If a farm that is contained within a farm group is discovered and later that
farm group is renamed in VMware VirtualCenter, unexpected behavior can occur
with the IBM Systems Director farm in the IBM Systems Director environment.
This unexpected behavior for the IBM Systems Director farm occurs for all
instances of IBM Systems Director Server that are tracking activity on that IBM
Systems Director farm. After a farm group is renamed, you should disconnect from
the platform manager that contains the IBM Systems Director farm and then
connect again.

The farm type of a IBM Systems Director farm in a VMware VirtualCenter


environment is VMware Virtual Center.

582 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


IBM Systems Director farms in other virtualization environments

You can create IBM Systems Director farms for use with other supported
virtualization environments. These IBM Systems Director farms are not defined in
any virtualization application, but exist only in IBM Systems Director.

The farm type of a IBM Systems Director farm is undefined until you add a host to
it. Then, the farm type becomes one of the following values:
v HMC
v IVM
v Microsoft Virtual Server
v VMware ESX
v VMware ESX 3.0 or later
v Xen

Hosts
In an IBM Systems Director environment, a host is a system that contains resources
from which virtual servers are constructed.

Hosts can be any of the following systems that are configured for the IBM Systems
Director environment:
v A BladeCenter Chassis
v A system running Microsoft Virtual Server
v IBM Power Systems that are under the control of an IBM Hardware
Management Console (HMC)
v An IBM Power Systems server that is under the control of IBM Integrated
Virtualization Manager (IVM)
v A system running VMware ESX Server
v A system running VMware ESX Server that is under the control of VMware
VirtualCenter
v A system running Xen Virtualization on a supported Linux operating system

A host can manage multiple virtual servers and their guest operating systems.

Hosts that are in a VMware VirtualCenter environment

After you connect to a VMware VirtualCenter platform manager, IBM Systems


Director creates a virtual farm to represent any farm that exists in the VMware
VirtualCenter environment. IBM Systems Director attempts to match each host that
is managed by a VMware VirtualCenter farm to systems that are currently being
managed by IBM Systems Director. If the host is not already being managed by
IBM Systems Director, it will not be added to the managed inventory, and will not
be displayed as a member of the virtual farm in IBM Systems Director.

When a host is running VMware ESX Server in a VMware VirtualCenter


environment, you can perform IBM Systems Director operations on that host
whether it is locked or unlocked. IBM Systems Director communicates out-of-band
with this system.

IBM Systems Director supports only those hosts that are connected to a system that
is running VMware VirtualCenter server. If a VMware VirtualCenter host is
disconnected, IBM Systems Director removes the host and generates a

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 583


Virtualization Manager Farm, Host Removed event. IBM Systems Director does
not discover hosts that are connecting to or are disconnected from a system that is
running VMware VirtualCenter server.

The VMware VirtualCenter client must be installed on the system on which IBM
Systems Director is installed.

Hosts that are in other virtualization environments

A managed system that is running VMware ESX Server or Microsoft Virtual Server
is not recognized as a host when it is locked. To request access to the host,
right-click the managed system and click Request Access. By providing a valid
user name that has local administrative rights to that managed system and its
password, you can access the system.

(VMware ESX Server 3.0 only) The VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client 2.0 must
be installed on the system where IBM Systems Director is installed.

Virtual servers
A virtual server is associated with a host system. The host must be part of a
virtualization environment that is supported in IBM Systems Director.

A virtual server is the logical equivalent of a physical platform. After IBM Systems
Director discovers a host, it continues the discovery process for all the virtual
servers that are associated with the host. When virtual servers are discovered, they
can be powered on and turned off through IBM Systems Director. In addition, you
can edit resources that are assigned to virtual servers, and relocate a virtual server
from one host to another. You can also create additional virtual servers to meet
your needs.

You can use IBM Systems Director to manage virtual servers that are configured
with one or more virtual disks. IBM Systems Director provides support for several
types of virtual disks, including undoable disks.

(VMware VirtualCenter only) IBM Systems Director does not support or display
virtual server groups, which are collections of virtual servers supported by VMware
VirtualCenter. When virtualization manager subagent creates a virtual server that is
a member of one or more virtual server groups, the name of the virtual server
group is ignored and not included in the name of the virtual server.

(Microsoft Virtual Server only) Microsoft Virtual Server has a virtual server status
called save state; IBM Systems Director refers to this feature as suspending a virtual
server. For information about the save state, see the documentation included with
Microsoft Virtual Server.

Undoable disks
An undoable disk is a type of virtual disk that saves changes to a temporary file
instead of to the virtual disk itself. Changes can be committed when the virtual
machine is turned off.

IBM Systems Director creates virtual servers that contain undoable disks. You can
create and view these virtual servers in IBM Systems Director. IBM Systems
Director supports power operations and relocation for virtual servers that contain
undoable disks.

584 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


In IBM Systems Director, each virtual server that has undoable disks can have
PowerON and PowerOFF actions that are used to answer questions from the
associated virtualization application when that virtual server is turned on or
turned off. The available actions vary, depending on which virtualization manager
Subagent is controlling the virtual server:
v (Virtualization manager subagent for VMware VirtualCenter and VMware ESX
Server only) By default, when a virtual server is turned off, changes are written
immediately to disk, which is the PowerOFF Commit action. If you configure a
PowerOFF action, but do not configure a PowerON action, then, by default
changes saved in the redo log are applied to disk when the virtual server is
turned on, which is the PowerON Commit action.

Note: PowerON and PowerOFF actions are not supported on VMware ESX
Server 3.0.
v (Virtualization manager subagent for Microsoft Virtual Server only) IBM Systems
Director provides PowerOFF actions only for virtual servers with undoable disks
in Microsoft Virtual Server. To configure PowerON actions, you must use the
Web interface to Microsoft Virtual Server. By default, when a virtual server is
turned off, changes to the virtual disk are saved in a redo log, which is the
PowerOFF Keep action.

For detailed information about the undoable disk implementation for a


virtualization application, see its included documentation.

Guest-operating-systems
A guest-operating-system represents an operating system that is running on a virtual
server on which Common Agent is installed. A guest-operating-system is a
particular type of managed system.

The standard IBM Systems Director discovery process for managed systems can
discover guest operating systems. However, if a guest operating system is not
running Common Agent, it is not recognized as a guest-operating-system object in
IBM Systems Director.

Virtualization groups
IBM Systems Director organizes logical sets of resources into groups. Virtualization
manager provides a set of default or predefined groups for virtual resources.

The following table lists the names and descriptions of the groups provided by
virtualization manager.
Table 45. Virtualization manager groups
Group Description
Virtualization Groups Groups for managing virtualization
Platform Managers Systems capable of managing hosts or farms
Platform Managers and Members Platform managers and their hosts or farms
Hosts Systems capable of hosting virtual servers
Virtual Servers Virtual servers
Virtual Servers and Hosts Virtual servers and their hosts
Guest Operating Systems Operating systems running on virtual
servers

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 585


Table 45. Virtualization manager groups (continued)
Group Description
Virtualization Systems Systems with virtualization capabilities,
attributes, or relationships
Virtual Farms Virtual farms

Viewing the Virtualization Management summary


The Virtualization Management summary page explains how you can access
virtualization management tasks using IBM Systems Director VMControl.

To view the Virtualization Manager summary, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Welcome.
2. On the Welcome page, click Manage, scroll to the virtualization manager
portion of the page, and click the Virtualization Management section heading.
The Virtualization Management summary is displayed.

Viewing resources in virtualization perspectives


You can use basic topology perspectives to view virtual resources. However, you
can use the Virtualization Basic, Virtualization Common, and Virtualization Details
perspectives to isolate virtual resources and drill down further to view additional
details about relationships between virtual resources.

In the Virtualization Basic perspective


You can use the Virtualization Basic perspective to view the same resources found
in the Virtualization Systems group, along with the operating systems running on
the systems and the relationships between the resources.

To view resources in the Virtualization Basic perspective, complete the following


steps:
1. Navigate to a resource whose relationships you want to see in a topology map
view and select it.
2. Click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Virtualization Basic.

In the Virtualization Common perspective


You can use the Virtualization Common perspective to view a common subset of
resources, such as storage pools and network endpoints, along with the basic
resources.

To view resources in the Virtualization Common perspective, complete the


following steps:
1. Navigate to a resource whose relationships you want to see in a topology map
view and select it.
2. Click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Virtualization Common.

In the Virtualization Detail perspective


You can use the Virtualization Detail perspective to view details such as settings,
allocations, and other resources, along with the basic and common resources.

586 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To view resources in the Virtualization Detail perspective, complete the following
steps:
1. Navigate to a resource whose relationships you want to see in a topology map
view and select it.
2. Click Actions > Topology Perspectives > Virtualization Detail.

Viewing resources in the Platform Managers and Members view


You can use the Platform Managers and Members view to see a variety of
information about your platform managers and the hosts or farms that are
controlled by the platform managers. You can view details such as status, IP
address, and descriptions.

Open the Platform Managers and Members view in one of the following ways:
v In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Inventory > Views >
Platform Managers and Members.
v In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources >
Virtualization Groups > Platform Managers and Members.

Viewing resources in the Virtual Servers and Hosts view


You can use the Virtual Servers and Hosts view to see a variety of information
about your virtual servers and hosts, such as status, IP address, and description.
You can also view CPU utilization for the host or virtual server, as well as the
number of processors and amount of memory that is allocated to your virtual
servers or hosts.

Open the Virtual Servers and Hosts view in one of the following ways:
v In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Inventory > Views > Virtual
Servers and Hosts.
v In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources >
Virtualization Groups > Virtual Servers and Hosts.

In addition to the columns that are displayed by default in the Virtual Servers and
Hosts view, you might be able to select additional columns depending on your
virtualization environment. For example, you can choose to add the Entitled
Processing Units column in a Power Systems environment.

The following table provides IBM Power Systems support statements for specific
metrics that are available in the Virtual Servers and Hosts view.
Table 46. Metric support statements for Power Systems managed by Hardware
Management Console or Integrated Virtualization Manager
CPU Utilization Entitled
Virtual system % Processors Memory (MB) Processing Units
HMC host Yes2 Yes Yes No
2 1
HMC virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes2
server
IVM host Yes2 Yes Yes No
2 1
IVM virtual Yes Yes Yes Yes2
server
Platform No No No No
manager

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 587


Table 46. Metric support statements for Power Systems managed by Hardware
Management Console or Integrated Virtualization Manager (continued)
CPU Utilization Entitled
Virtual system % Processors Memory (MB) Processing Units
1
Metric information will display only if all processors are running in shared mode. If one
or more processors is running in dedicated mode, the metric will report no data available.
2
No data available is reported if the virtual server (logical partition) processor is configured
to run in dedicated mode, or if a host contains a virtual server processor configuration in
dedicated mode. No data available is also reported if the system is powered off.

Viewing virtualization properties


In addition to viewing the properties listed on the main properties view for a
selected resource, you can see additional properties that are specific to virtual
resources.

To see virtualization properties, complete the following steps:


1. Navigate to a resource whose properties you want to see and select it.
2. Click Actions > Properties.
3. On the General page, click Virtualization Properties (under Additional
Properties) in the upper-right corner of the page.

Note: Virtualization Properties is displayed only for resources that provide


virtualization services.

The virtualization properties displayed vary, depending on the resource you


selected.

The Virtualization Properties page lists properties for virtual resources in the
following categories:
Vendor Information
Contains information about the virtualization vendor or the selected
resource in the vendor user interface.
Processor
Contains information about processors such as the number of processors or
processing units.
Memory
Contains information about memory such as memory block size or
available memory.
Disks Contains information about the virtual disks or storage, such as virtual
disk name, virtual disk size, and virtual disk location, for example, the
Virtual I/O Server that is managing the disk in a Power Systems
environment.

Note: Virtual disk size information is not available for VMware ESX Server
2.5.x hosts, VMware VirtualCenter 1.4.x hosts, or Microsoft Virtual Server
hosts that are running IBM Systems Director Virtualization Manager Agent
for Microsoft Virtual Server version 1.2.
Devices
Contains information about devices, such as optical device name and

588 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


optical device location. For the Hardware Management Console (HMC)
and Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM), only optical devices are
supported.
Network
Contains information about the network, such as virtual Ethernet adapters
allocated to the virtual server, and the virtual networks to which the
adapters are connected.
Additional Information
Contains additional information.

Configuring virtual resources


Use this topic to complete configuration steps that might be required in order to
manage your virtual environment.

Configuring Power Systems platform managers


To enable IBM Systems Director to manage IBM Power Systems platform
managers, you must perform several steps on the Hardware Management Console
(HMC) or the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM).

Configuring the HMC


Perform the following configuration steps on the Hardware Management Console
(HMC).

Setting up user access to the HMC:

Create users on the Hardware Management Console (HMC) with the required
authorities to ensure that users can request access to an HMC from IBM Systems
Director and perform tasks for managing the HMC. There are three HMC user
roles that you can create: hmcsuperadmin, hmcoperator, and hmcviewer.

To request access to an HMC from IBM Systems Director, you must have a user
account on the HMC. When you request access using an HMC user ID and
password, the role associated with the HMC user determines the tasks that are
available in IBM Systems Director for all IBM Systems Director users.

For example, if you request access using an HMC user with the hmcviewer role,
the only IBM Systems Director task that will be available to you is viewing
resource utilization data. You might want to request access in IBM Systems
Director using an HMC user with a higher level of authority, such as hmcoperator,
so that more tasks are available in IBM Systems Director.

An IBM Systems Director super administrator must assign privileges to


administrators before an administrator can access any IBM Systems Director tasks.

The following table describes the IBM Systems Director tasks and the HMC user
roles necessary to perform the tasks.
Table 47. IBM Systems Director tasks and required HMC user roles
HMC user roles
IBM Systems
Director tasks hmcsuperadmin hmcoperator hmcviewer
View topology and
X X
resource properties

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 589


Table 47. IBM Systems Director tasks and required HMC user roles (continued)
HMC user roles
IBM Systems
Director tasks hmcsuperadmin hmcoperator hmcviewer
View resource
X X X
utilization data
Inventory discovery X X
Create virtual server X X
Edit virtual resources X X
Delete virtual server
X X
permanently
Power management X X
Relocation X X

To learn about creating the HMC users, see “Managing user profiles and access.”
Related reference

Manage user profiles and access

Enabling the HMC for remote command execution:

Enable the Hardware Management Console (HMC) for remote command execution
so that IBM Systems Director can communicate with the HMC.

To enable or disable remote commands, you must be a member of one of the


following roles:
v super administrator
v service representative

To enable the HMC for remote command execution, complete the following steps:
1. In the HMC Navigation Area pane, expand the affected HMC and expand
HMC Management.
2. Open the Remote Command Execution task from the HMC Management work
pane.
3. From the Remote Command Execution window, select Enable remote
command execution using the ssh facility.
4. Click OK to proceed.

Setting the HMC to collect resource utilization data for managed systems:

Use this procedure to set the Hardware Management Console (HMC) to collect
resource utilization data for any of the managed systems that it manages.

To set the HMC to collect resource utilization data, you must be a super
administrator or operator.

When you set the HMC to collect resource utilization data for a managed system,
the HMC collects utilization data for memory and processor resource. The HMC
collects utilization data into records called events. Events are created at the
following times:
v At periodic intervals that you set

590 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v When you make system-level and partition-level state and configuration changes
that affect resource utilization
v When you start up, shut down, and change the local time on the HMC

To set the HMC to collect resource utilization data, follow these steps:
1. In the navigation area, expand Systems Management.
2. Expand Servers.
3. In the corresponding systems table, select the servers that you want to enable
for collecting utilization data.
4. In the task area, expand Operations, and then expand Utilization Data.
5. Click Change Sampling Rate.
6. In the Change Sampling Rate window, select the sampling rate that you want
to use for the systems you have selected. You can choose from the following
options:
v 30 seconds
v 1 minute
v 5 minutes
v 30 minutes
v 1 hour

Configuring the IVM


Perform the following configuration steps on the Integrated Virtualization Manager
(IVM).

Setting up user access to the IVM:

Create users on the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) with the required
authorities to ensure that users can request access to an IVM from IBM Systems
Director and perform tasks for managing the IVM. There are three IVM user roles
that you can create: padmin, View/Modify, and View Only.

To request access to an IVM from IBM Systems Director, you must have a user
account on the IVM. When you request access using an IVM user ID and
password, the role associated with the IVM user determines the tasks that are
available in IBM Systems Director for all IBM Systems Director users.

An IBM Systems Director super administrator must assign privileges to


administrators before an administrator can access any IBM Systems Director tasks.

The following table describes the IBM Systems Director tasks and the IVM user
roles necessary to perform the tasks.
Table 48. IBM Systems Director tasks and required IVM user roles
IVM user roles
IBM Systems
Director tasks padmin View/Modify View Only
View topology and
X X X
resource properties
View resource
X X X
utilization data
Inventory discovery X X
Create virtual server X X

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 591


Table 48. IBM Systems Director tasks and required IVM user roles (continued)
IVM user roles
IBM Systems
Director tasks padmin View/Modify View Only
Edit virtual resources X X
Delete virtual server
X X
permanently
Power management X X
Relocation X X

To learn about creating the IVM users, see "Creating IVM user accounts."
Related reference

Creating IVM user accounts

Enabling the IVM for remote command execution:

Enable the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) for remote command


execution by starting secure shell (ssh) one time. The ssh service is subsequently
started whenever you reboot the IVM.

To enable the IVM for remote command execution, complete the following steps:
1. Connect to the IVM using Telnet or another application.
2. Use the default user ID padmin to log into the IVM.
3. Determine whether the IVM is enabled for remote command execution by
default.
On the Virtual I/O Server command line, type the following command:
lsnetsvc ssh

If remote command execution is enabled, you have completed this task.


Output similar to the following code will be displayed:
Subsystem Group PID Status
sshd ssh Process_ID active

where Process_ID is the identification number assigned to the process.


If remote command execution is not enabled, continue with the next step.
Output similar to the following code will be displayed:
Subsystem Group PID Status
sshd ssh Process_ID inoperative

where Process_ID is the identification number assigned to the process.


4. Type the following command:
ioscli startnetsvc ssh

After you start the ssh service, it will continue running until you issue a command
to stop it.

Starting Common Information Model (CIM) server on the IVM:

Start the cimserver service one time. The cimserver service is subsequently started
whenever you reboot the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) managed object.

592 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To start the cimserver service on the IVM, complete the following steps:
1. Connect to the IVM using Telnet or ssh.
2. Use the default user ID padmin to log into the IVM.
3. On the Virtual I/O Server command line, type the following command:
ioscli startnetsvc cimserver

After you start the cimserver service, it will continue running until you issue a
command to stop it.

Configuring credentials for the FSP CIM Proxy:

To enable power on and power off tasks for an IVM-managed Power Systems
server or a standalone Power Systems server, you must configure credentials for
the Flexible Service Processor (FSP) Common Information Model (CIM) Proxy.

Ensure that you have installed the FSP Proxy extension and the IBM Cluster
Systems Management utilities.

To configure the FSP CIM Proxy and enable power on and power off tasks for the
Power Systems server, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the Power Systems server for which you want to enable power
management tasks; the system will display partial access if the credentials are
not configured.
2. Right-click the Power Systems server and select Security > Configure Access.
3. On the Configure Access page, click the CIM Proxy Access entry.
4. Click Configure Credentials. The Configure Credential Wizard is displayed.
a. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next.
b. On the Credential Type page, select the User ID and Password credential
type and click Next.
c. On the Credential Detail page, specify HMC for the User ID and the
associated HMC User ID password. Click Next.

Note: If you do not know the password for the HMC User ID, you can log
in to the Advanced System Management interface on the FSP with the
Admin User ID and change the password for the HMC User ID. You can
find the IP Address for the FSP on the IBM Systems Director Configure
Access page in the CIM Proxy Access row under the Access Information
heading. Use the Login Profile > Change Password task and select to
change the HMC User ID.
d. On the Summary page, click Finish.
When you have completed the Configure Credential Wizard, the credentials
that you created are automatically used to authenticate to the access point. The
CIM Proxy Access point should display OK in the Access column.
5. If you return to Navigate Resources and right-click on the Power Systems
server, you should now see the option for Power On/Off > Power Off Now or
Power On/Off > Power On depending on the current power state of your
server.

Note: Unless you have configured credentials for each Remote Service Access
Point, you will continue to see Partial access for the Power Systems server.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 593


Related reference

Preparing to install IBM Systems Director Server on AIX

Preparing to install IBM Systems Director Server on Linux on Power Systems

Configuring storage resources


To use IBM Systems Director virtualization manager to relocate virtual servers
from one host to another, you must have a shared storage area network (SAN)
configured.

Relocation requirements
Before you start a virtual server relocation, ensure that you meet the relocation
requirements.
v Relocation of virtual servers is possible only between hosts within the same
virtual farm.
v Both the source and target host must have access to a shared storage area
network (SAN).

Note: For Xen relocation, the virtual server image must be available on a shared
storage volume, with that volume mounted by both the source and target host.
v Both the source and target host must have access to a shared communications
network.
v The target host must have enough memory to support the virtual server.

Note: Additionally, for Xen, the source host must have memory available that is
equal to or greater than the virtual server or virtual servers that you want to
relocate.
v The target host must support the configuration version of the virtual server.
v Relocation of clustered virtual servers is not supported.
v Relocation of virtual servers that are suspended or in a transition state is not
supported.

Note: Additionally, for Xen, the virtual server cannot be in an offline or paused
state.
v Source and target hosts must have a virtual network device with the same label.

Note: For Xen, the bridge must have the same name on both the source and
target hosts.
v Virtual servers to be relocated cannot be connected to a removable device such
as a CD drive or diskette drive.
v The version of a configuration file for a virtual server must be supported by the
virtualization application with which the virtualization manager subagent
communicates. Otherwise, the virtual server cannot be relocated.
v (IBM Power Systems only) To relocate a virtual server, ensure that you meet the
minimum virtualization software requirements for the HMC and the IVM.
IBM Power Systems relocation leverages Live Partition Mobility functionality, a
component of the PowerVM Enterprise Edition hardware feature. To utilize the
relocation functionality in IBM Systems Director, you must meet the
requirements described in the “Live Partition Mobility” documentation. For
more information, see the preparation sections in the “Moving the mobile
partition using the HMC” or “Moving the mobile partition using the Integrated
Virtualization Manager” topics.

594 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


For further information about virtual server relocation and potential restrictions for
a specific virtualization application, see its included documentation.
Related concepts

Live Partition Mobility


Related tasks

Live Partition Mobility on HMC-managed systems

Live Partition Mobility on IVM-managed systems


Relocating a virtual server
Related reference

Virtualization software supported by IBM Systems Director

Enabling static relocation for Microsoft Virtual Server hosts


If you want to use static relocation for virtual servers that are associated with
Microsoft Virtual Server hosts, you must complete extra steps to account for
volumes in these environments.

A volume is a discrete unit of storage on disk, tape or other data recording medium
that supports some form of identifier and parameter list, such as a volume label or
input/output control.

Notes:
1. A volume should be mounted at only one mount point on the source host. A
volume mounted at multiple mount points is not supported.
2. Make sure that the volume that contains the virtual server to be relocated does
not contain any files that are not related to the virtual server. If the volume
contains any files that are not related to the virtual server, everything in the
volume will become inaccessible as soon as the volume is dismounted.
3. When relocating multiple virtual servers on one volume, the relocation
operation succeeds only when all virtual servers on the same volume are
successfully relocated. The operation fails when any of the virtual servers on
the same volume fail to be relocated. In that case, all virtual servers on the
volume are registered again to the source host.
4. Relocation is supported on primary partitions only.

Complete the following steps to perform static relocation for virtual servers that
are associated with Microsoft Virtual Server hosts:
1. Create a volume on the storage area network (SAN). Make sure that the
volume you create is large enough to hold the virtual server.
2. Mount the volume at the source host.
3. Make sure that the destination host can access the volume as initialized or
formatted. If not, the destination host may need to be restarted. However, do
not mount the volume at the destination host.
4. Create a virtual server on the source host and put it on this volume.
5. Create relocation tasks for the virtual server.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 595


Managing host systems
Use IBM Systems Director to run the Enter Maintenance Mode and Exit
Maintenance Mode tasks on your VMware ESX host systems. You can also start
and stop the virtualization service on a host in a Microsoft Virtual Server virtual
farm.

Entering maintenance mode


You can specify that certain hosts be in maintenance mode so that you can perform
service tasks on the host.

For VMware ESX hosts managed by VMware VirtualCenter 2.x, all virtual servers
on the host must be powered off to access the maintenance mode task. VMware
ESX hosts that are in maintenance mode cannot be targeted with tasks such as
Create Virtual Server, Power On, or Relocate Virtual Server.

To change a host to maintenance mode, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Availability >
Enter Maintenance Mode.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Exiting from maintenance mode


You can use the exit maintenance mode task to enable VMware ESX Server hosts
that are managed by VMware VirtualCenter 2.x to once again be targeted by tasks
such as Create Virtual Server, Power On, or Relocate Virtual Server.

When the service tasks are complete, you can return the host to a fully functional
state. To exit from maintenance mode, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host.
2. Select the host. Click Actions from the menu bar, and select Availability > Exit
Maintenance Mode.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Starting the virtualization service on a host


To manage the hosts within a Microsoft Virtual Server virtual farm, the
virtualization service must be started. Although the virtualization service is started
by default, you can use these instructions to restart the virtualization service, if
necessary.

To start the virtualization service on a single host or on all hosts that are associated
with one virtual farm, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the resource at which you want to start the virtualization service:
either a single host, or to the virtual farm that contains the hosts.
3. Select the host or virtual farm, click Actions from the menu bar, and select
System Configuration > Start Virtualization Service.

596 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Stopping the virtualization service on a host


After you have completed the tasks on the hosts within a Microsoft Virtual Server
virtual farm, you can stop the virtualization service.

To stop the virtualization service on a single host, or on all hosts that are
associated with one virtual farm, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the resource at which you want to stop the virtualization service:
either a single host, or to the virtual farm that contains the hosts.
3. Select the host or virtual farm, click Actions from the menu bar, and select
System Configuration > Stop Virtualization Service.
4. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Managing virtual farms


You can use IBM Systems Director to create and delete virtual farms, to add and
remove hosts from a virtual farm, and to start or stop virtualization services for a
virtual farm. A virtual farm is a logical grouping of hosts and their virtual servers;
it does not represent a physical system.

Adding a host to a virtual farm


You can use IBM Systems Director to add a host to a virtual farm. When hosts and
their associated virtual servers are located within a virtual farm, the virtual servers
can be relocated from one host to another host.

Complete the following steps to add a host to a virtual farm:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Virtual Farms.
3. Select the virtual farm to which you want to add a host, click Actions from the
menu bar, and select Add Host. The Add Host window opens.
Based on the type of virtual farm to which you are adding a host, the contents
of the Add Host window will differ:
v If you are adding a host to a virtual farm that is defined in VMware
VirtualCenter, you must designate the host, a user ID for the host that you
are adding, the password, and the port.

Note: If you add a host to a virtual farm that is under the control of
VMware VirtualCenter 2.x, you might need to check the Event Log to
determine the status of the operation.
v If you are adding a host to a virtual farm that is any other type of virtual
farm, you are required only to select the host from a list of available hosts.
4. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Creating a virtual farm


If you want to use virtual server relocation functions, you can create a virtual farm,
which is a container within which you can relocate virtual servers between hosts.
A virtual farm can contain multiple hosts and their associated virtual servers.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 597


The Create Virtual Farm wizard will help you group hosts together and define
specialized capabilities for the virtual servers running on the hosts. A virtual farm
has potential for capabilities such as high availability, workload management,
dynamic relocation, and static relocation if the hosts are enabled for these features.

Complete the following steps to create a virtual farm:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Create Virtual Farm.
3. Follow the instructions in the wizard to create the virtual farm.

Note: If you are creating a VMware VirtualCenter 1.x farm and choose to
specify an optional path on the Capabilities Details page, any directory that
you specify must already exist on the VMware VirtualCenter system. For
example, if you attempt to create an optional path, vcenter/new_farm, the
new_farm directory must already exist in the vcenter/ root directory.

Adding capabilities to a host


When you create a virtual farm, you can use the wizard to add only those hosts
that are enabled with the capabilities that you have selected for the farm. If a
specific host is not available for selection in the Create Virtual Farm wizard, you
must add the capability to the host.

In the Create Virtual Farm wizard, you can enable the following capabilities if you
have hosts to add to the farm that are also enabled with these same capabilities:
v High availability with workload management
v Live relocation
v Static relocation

The following list describes the requirements for hosts to participate in a specific
capability:
High availability with workload management
High availability with workload management is supported in the VMware
VirtualCenter environment. The VMware VirtualCenter hosts must have
the Common Agent and virtualization manager subagent installed.
VMware VirtualCenter systems must have either VMware High
Availability or VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler enabled.
Live relocation
Live relocation is supported in the VMware VirtualCenter environment, the
Power Systems environment, and the Xen environment. The hosts must be
configured with the correct agent and subagent:
v VMware VirtualCenter hosts must have the Common Agent and
virtualization manager subagent installed.
v Xen hosts must have the Platform Agent installed.
v Power Systems hosts do not require an agent or subagent.
VMware VirtualCenter systems must have VMotion enabled.
Static relocation
Static relocation is supported in all virtualization environments that are
supported by IBM Systems Director. The hosts must be configured with the
correct agent and subagent:
v Microsoft Virtual Server hosts must have the Common Agent and
virtualization manager subagent installed.

598 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Power Systems hosts do not require an agent or subagent.
v VMware ESX Server hosts must have the Common Agent and
virtualization manager subagent installed.
v VMware VirtualCenter hosts must have the Common Agent and
virtualization manager subagent installed.
v Xen hosts must have the Platform Agent installed.

Note:
v For hosts that are managed by VMware VirtualCenter, you cannot
specify static relocation explicitly. VMware VirtualCenter determines the
type of relocation to use based on the state of the host.

Deleting a virtual farm from IBM Systems Director and


VMware VirtualCenter
You can use IBM Systems Director to permanently delete a virtual farm from both
VMware VirtualCenter and IBM Systems Director.

If you no longer require a virtual farm, use IBM Systems Director to delete the
corresponding virtual farm from VMware VirtualCenter. This action also deletes
the virtual farm from IBM Systems Director. When you complete this task, the
virtual farm cannot be rediscovered and instead must be re-created. Alternatively,
you can remove a virtual farm only from IBM Systems Director.

Complete the following steps to delete a virtual farm permanently from a platform
manager and delete its corresponding virtualization component from VMware
VirtualCenter:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Virtual Farms.
3. Select the virtual farm, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Delete
Permanently.

Note: This menu option is available only when the platform manager that
contains the virtual farm to be deleted is online and authenticated.

Removing a virtual farm from IBM Systems Director


If you no longer require a virtual farm, you can remove it from IBM Systems
Director.

Before you remove a virtual farm from IBM Systems Director, note the following
qualifications:
v When a virtual farm that represents a virtualization component in VMware
VirtualCenter is removed from IBM Systems Director, IBM Systems Director does
not remove the corresponding farm from VMware VirtualCenter. Later, if you
decide that you want to manage the virtual farm in IBM Systems Director, you
can rediscover it. Alternatively, you can permanently delete a virtual farm from
VMware VirtualCenter as well as IBM Systems Director.
v For virtual farms that are associated with hosts that are running virtualization
manager subagents for VMware ESX Server or Microsoft Virtual Server, for hosts
that are associated with Xen virtual servers, or for hosts that are under the
control of the IBM Hardware Management Console (HMC) or Integrated
Virtualization Manager (IVM), you cannot rediscover these virtual farms in IBM

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 599


Systems Director; there is no corresponding virtualization component. This same
principle applies for virtual farms that are undefined; a host has not been added
to the virtual farm to define its type.
v You can remove a VMware VirtualCenter virtual farm even if it contains one or
more hosts. You cannot remove an IBM Systems Director virtual farm that is not
in VMware VirtualCenter if it contains one or more hosts.

Complete the following steps to remove a virtual farm from IBM Systems Director:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Virtual Farms.
3. Select the virtual farm you want to remove, click Actions from the menu bar,
and select Remove.

Editing a virtual farm


After you have created a virtual farm, you can modify some of the attributes of the
virtual farm, add new hosts to the virtual farm, and also remove one or more
existing hosts from the virtual farm with the Edit Virtual Farm task.

Complete the following steps to edit a virtual farm:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Virtual Farms.
3. Select the virtual farm, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Edit Virtual
Farm.
4. Follow the instructions in the wizard to edit the virtual farm.

Note: To add or remove hosts for a VMware VirtualCenter virtual farm, use
the add host or remove host task instead of the edit a virtual farm task.

Removing a host from a virtual farm


You can use IBM Systems Director to remove a host from a virtual farm when you
no longer want it to be organized within that virtual farm.

Complete the following steps to remove a host from a virtual farm:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the host that you want to remove from a virtual farm.
3. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Remove from
Virtual Farm.

Note: This menu option is available only when the platform manager that
contains the virtual farm is online and authenticated.

Starting the virtualization service on a farm


To manage the hosts within a Microsoft Virtual Server virtual farm, the
virtualization service must be started. Although the virtualization service is started
by default, you can use these instructions to restart the virtualization service, if
necessary.

To start the virtualization service on a single host or on all hosts that are associated
with one virtual farm, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.

600 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. Navigate to the resource at which you want to start the virtualization service:
either a single host, or to the virtual farm that contains the hosts.
3. Select the host or virtual farm, click Actions from the menu bar, and select
System Configuration > Start Virtualization Service.
4. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Stopping the virtualization service on a farm


After you have completed the tasks on the hosts within a Microsoft Virtual Server
virtual farm, you can stop the virtualization service.

To stop the virtualization service on a single host, or on all hosts that are
associated with one virtual farm, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the resource at which you want to stop the virtualization service:
either a single host, or to the virtual farm that contains the hosts.
3. Select the host or virtual farm, click Actions from the menu bar, and select
System Configuration > Stop Virtualization Service.
4. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Viewing virtual farms


You can use the Virtual Farms view to access all of your virtual farms in one
location, along with basic information about them. From the virtual farms view
you can also create new virtual farms, and perform management tasks on existing
virtual farms.

The Virtual Farm view includes the following information about your existing
farms:
v Virtual farm name
v Type of virtual farm (what type of hosts are contained in the virtual farm)
v Number of hosts contained within the virtual farm
v Number of virtual servers contained within the virtual farm
v Whether or not the virtual farm is enabled with the high availability capability

From within the virtual farm view, you can also create new virtual farms, or
perform management tasks on existing virtual farms, such as editing a virtual
farm.

Access the Virtual Farms view in one of the following ways:


v In the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, click Availability > Virtual
Farms.
v In the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, click Navigate Resources >
Virtualization Groups > Virtual Farms.
v In the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, click Welcome. Then click
the Manage tab, and select Virtualization Manager. On the virtualization
manager summary page, locate the Common views heading and click Virtual
farms.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 601


Managing virtual servers
You can use IBM Systems Director to create, delete, edit, and relocate virtual
servers, as well as resume and suspend virtual servers. In addition, you can
perform power operations tasks such as powering on and off virtual servers.

Connecting to a platform manager


Before you can use IBM Systems Director to perform management operations on
systems that are under the control of VMware VirtualCenter or VMware ESX
Server 3.x, you must be connected to the platform manager.

For example, you must enter credentials before you can turn on a virtual server
using IBM Systems Director. Entering credentials logs you into the VMware
management interface for that system. Disconnecting from the platform manager
logs you off of the VMware management interface.

After you have entered credentials, any instance of IBM Systems Director Server in
the environment can access that instance of VMware VirtualCenter server or
VMware ESX Server 3.x. You can continue to enter credentials from any instance of
IBM Systems Director Server in the environment. You can revoke credentials only
from those instances of IBM Systems Director that originally entered credentials.
After credentials are revoked from the last instance of IBM Systems Director Server
that previously entered credentials, no instance of IBM Systems Director Server can
access that instance of VMware VirtualCenter server.

Note: In an IBM Systems Director environment that has multiple management


servers, it is recommended that you use only one management server to manage a
platform manager. Using multiple management servers to manage platform
managers that have authenticated with VMware VirtualCenter causes
unpredictable results.

Complete the following steps to connect to a platform manager:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the platform manager that you want to authenticate to the VMware
management interface for that system.
2. Select the platform manager, click Actions from the menu bar, and select
Security > Connect.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Disconnecting from a platform manager


When you are connected to a VMware VirtualCenter platform manager or a
VMware ESX Server 3.x platform manager, you can use IBM Systems Director to
perform management operations on systems that are under the control of that
platform manager. If you want to ensure that IBM Systems Director users cannot
access VMware VirtualCenter tasks or VMware ESX Server 3.x tasks, you must
disconnect from the respective platform manager.

When you disconnect from the platform manager, IBM Systems Director deletes
the saved credentials for the platform manager from IBM Systems Director Server.

Complete the following steps to disconnect a platform manager from the VMware
management interface for the system:

602 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the platform manager that you want to disconnect.
2. Select the platform manager, click Actions from the menu bar, and select
Security > Disconnect.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Creating virtual servers


You can use IBM Systems Director virtualization manager to create and manage
virtual servers on the host systems in your environment.

Virtual server creation


Virtualization manager includes the ability to create virtual servers on your host
systems by using the Create Virtual Server wizard.

The Create Virtual Server task is available on systems running in the following
virtualization environments:
v Hardware Management Console (HMC)
v Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
v Microsoft Virtual Server
v VMware ESX Server
v VMware ESX Server hosts that are under the control of VMware VirtualCenter
v Xen Virtualization

Typically, the Create Virtual Server task does not install an operating system. You
install the appropriate operating system after the virtual server is created. In the
Xen virtualization environment, a prerequisite for using the Create Virtual Server
wizard is to create an image to be used when the virtual server is created. Then,
when the Xen virtual server creation is completed, the new virtual server is ready
to use.

Image
A system image is a bootable operating system and additional software in the form
of a single raw image file. IBM Systems Director helps you store and copy system
images to reuse them for creating virtual servers.

IBM Systems Director manages the life cycle of a system image for you.

Although IBM Systems Director manages system images automatically, it is useful


to understand how IBM Systems Director handles and changes your system images
for you.

A system image begins as a master image, which is an image that includes function
but has no identity. For example, a master image has no configuration information
and it is not allocated to any server.

IBM Systems Director uses a master image to create a clone image that you can use
to create a virtual server.

A clone image contains the function that it inherits from a master image. A clone
image can be used immediately to create a virtual server. After you use a clone
image to create a virtual server, the clone image is customized and assigned to that
specific virtual server. If you delete the virtual server, the clone image associated

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 603


with the virtual server is also deleted. The clone image that you use to create the
virtual server is the image that the virtual server is configured to boot from.

Xen virtualization supports the following types of image formats:


v partition image
v raw disk image (multi-partitioned)

Image requirements
This topic describes the requirements for using a Xen image to create a virtual
server on a Xen host system.

Ensure that the Xen image, guest operating system, and host system meet the
following requirements:
v The name of the Xen image must include the .img extension.
v The image must not contain a Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM).
v The image must not contain more than one disk.
v The Linux distribution on the image must match the Linux distribution on the
host system. For example, you must use a SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 image to
create a virtual server on a Xen host running SUSE Linux Enterprise 10.
v The platform of the guest operating system must match the platform of the host
system. For example, if the guest operating system runs on a 32-bit platform, the
host system must also run on a 32-bit platform.
v The kernel on the guest operating system must not be newer than the kernel on
the host system.
v The file system in the image must be supported on the host. For example, if the
image contains an ext3 file system, the version of SUSE Linux Enterprise
installed on the host must support an ext3 file system. Similarly, if the image
contains a ReiserFS, the version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux installed on the
host must support ReiserFS.

Image repository
An image repository is part of a local or shared file system that is used to store
system images. You can use the system images to create Xen virtual servers.

Xen virtualization supports the following types of image repositories:


v Local
v Network File System (NFS) where NFS is accessible by all corresponding hosts
under the same mount point

You need to create the image repository, either on the local Xen host or within a
shared file system. For more information, see “Creating image repositories for Xen
manually” on page 612.

The Xen host system must be a Platform Agent managed system. The information
about repositories on a Xen host system will be stored in a configuration file on the
Xen host at the following location: /opt/ibm/director/vm/im/repository.prop

An image repository must be homogenous. That is, it cannot be shared between


hosts running different versions of virtualization software. For example, a host
running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 cannot share a repository with a host
running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1. All the images in a shared
repository must be fully compatible with all the hosts connected to the repository.

604 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Creating images for Xen virtual servers
You can choose from several methods to generate an image to be used when you
create a virtual server on a Xen host. You can use an image creation script to create
a master image, or you can copy an existing Xen virtual server image, clean up
certain settings, and use it to create a new one.

Creating a master image for Xen virtual servers manually:

If you do not create a master image for Xen virtual servers automatically during
the installation process, you can create the master image manually by using an
image creation script. This script is included with the virtualization manager Xen
subagent.

Note: Ensure that the Xen host system has a minimum of 256 MB of memory
available for the image creation process.

To create the master image manually by using the image creation script, complete
the following steps:
1. Ensure that you have completed the steps for installing the virtualization
manager Xen subagent before you proceed with this task.
2. Ensure that you have restarted the machine and booted it from the Xen kernel.
3. The image creation process requires a Network File System (NFS) installation
source that hosts the installation media: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0. If you do not
already have an NFS installation source, you can set it up on the local Xen host
system or another central location. See the appropriate documentation for
instructions:
Table 49. Documentation sources for Linux distributions
Operating system Documentation
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Documentation
v For NFS Server Configuration instructions,
see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0.0
Deployment Guide.
v For instructions to prepare for an NFS
installation, see the Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 5.0.0 Installation Guide.
Note: When you configure the NFS server,
all files and directories must be accessible by
the NFS client, the Xen system on which
you are creating the master image.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
Documentation

For instructions to set up an installation


server using YaST, see the SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 10 Installation and
Administration Guide.

Copy the contents of your installation media, such as SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server 10, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5.0, to a directory on the NFS server using a descriptive name such
astmp/sources/sles10.

Note: Alternatively, you can use a local installation on the Xen host.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 605


4. Change to the /opt/ibm/director/vm/im directory and run the image creation
script using the following command.

Installation Media Command


Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 redhat_inst.py --dest=/var/opt/ibm/vm/images/
vm_master1.img --src=nfs:NFS_Server://
Directory --net=dhcp
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 suse_inst.py --dest=/var/opt/ibm/vm/images/
vm_master1.img --src=nfs:NFS_Server://
Directory --net=dhcp

Use the following table to understand the variables used when you run the
image creation command.
Table 50. Variables used when you run the image creation command
Variable Description
/var/opt/ibm/vm/images/vm_master1.img The destination at which you want the
generated Xen master image to reside. The
recommended filen ame and location is
/var/opt/ibm/vm/images/
vm_master1.img.
NFS_Server The name of the NFS server, for example,
xen_image. Alternatively, you can specify the
IP address for the NFS server, for example,
192.168.0.1.
Note: Do not specify localhost or 127.0.0.1
for the name of the NFS server.
Directory The directory in which you copied the
contents of the installation media, for
example, tmp/sources/sles10 or
tmp/sources/redhat.

The following example shows the image creation command using the sample
variables described in the table.
Table 51. Image creation commands for Linux distributions
Installation Media Command
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 redhat_inst.py --dest=/var/opt/ibm/vm/
images/vm_master1.img
--src=nfs:xen_image://tmp/sources/redhat
--net=dhcp
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 suse_inst.py --dest=/var/opt/ibm/vm/
images/vm_master1.img
--src=nfs:xen_image://tmp/sources/sles10
--net=dhcp

A series of graphical panels are displayed during the automated process that
creates the image. No action is necessary. Wait for the panels to finish
displaying. The length of time required for the image creation process depends
on your network speed and configuration; the process can take several minutes
to two hours to complete.
5. Verify that the vm_master1.img image was created in the/var/opt/ibm/vm/
images directory.

Note: The images must exist in this directory so that the Create Virtual Server
wizard can retrieve the image to create a virtual server.

606 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


6. Discover the Xen host system.

To create a virtual server using the master image, see “Creating a virtual server”
on page 614.

Note: Use the image only with virtualization manager to create a Xen virtual
server. Do not use the image outside of virtualization manager to create a virtual
server.

Read the following information to learn about options you can use when you run
the image creation script and to learn about the settings that are configured in the
master image that the script creates:

You can specify the following options when you run the image creation script.
Specify either the short form or the long form of the option.
Table 52. Options for the image creation script
Required/
Option Description Optional Default value
-s [d] --src [d] Use [d] as the NFS source for the Required /install
installation media. You must
specify [d] using the following
format: nfs:NFS_Server://
Directory where NFS_Server is
the name of the NFS server and
Directory is the directory into
which you copied the contents of
the installation media.
-d [d] --dest [d] Create the image in the Required /var/opt/
file-backed virtual block device ibm/vm/
(VBD) [d]. [d] can contain the images.
full path for the image file. vm_master.img

-z [d] --size [d] Set the size of the image to [d] in Optional Approximately 2
megabytes. For example, set [d] GB
to 2048 for an image that is
approximately 2 GB in size.
-f --force Overwrite the destination image Optional N/A
if one already exists at that
location.
-c [d] --cache [d] Keep the installation source in Optional N/A
file [d].
-n --net [d] Use [d] to specify the network Required dhcp
parameters. Options are
v dhcp
v local
v ip,mask,gateway,dns where
ip,mask,gateway,dns is a
combination of the IP address,
subnet mask, network
gateway, and DNS server.

-h --help Print this help statement and Optional N/A


exit. This option cannot be used
in combination with any other
options.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 607


Table 52. Options for the image creation script (continued)
Required/
Option Description Optional Default value
-q --quiet The specification for surface Optional N/A
warning level messages for the
command.
-v --verbose The specification for surface Optional N/A
debug level messages for the
command.

The image creation script creates the master image with the following default
settings.
Table 53. Image settings
Configuration Value
Name of the file-backed virtual block device vm_master.img
(VBD)
Location /var/opt/ibm/vm/images
Size of image Approximately 2 GB
Clock and time zone UTC
Keyboard layout English (US)
Disk partitions For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0:
v xvda1 - 1.7 GB root file system
v xvda2 - 256 MB for swap partition

For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10:


v hda1 - 258.8 MB for swap partition
v hda2 - 1.7 GB for root file system with
reiserfs
Software patterns installed For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0:
v Base package group
v Core package group

For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10:


v Server Base System
v Novell AppArmor
v Other packages on which Server Base
System and Novell AppArmor are
dependent
Primary language English (US)
Host and domain name Configured to be set by using Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
Password for root user passw0rd
Password encryption Blowfish
Network mode Traditional method without the
NetworkManager Applet
Firewall Enabled; secure shell (ssh) port is open
Network interfaces Ethernet network card; configured with
DHCP

608 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 53. Image settings (continued)
Configuration Value
DSL connections, ISDN adapters, and Not configured
modems
VNC remote administration Disabled
Proxy Disabled
CA management Not configured
User authentication method Local
Local users None configured
Printers Not configured

Creating a customized master image for a Xen virtual server manually:

You can use an existing, customized Xen virtual server image as a basis for
creating additional virtual servers on a Xen host system. To enable an existing
virtual server image for use as a master image in IBM Systems Director, you must
clean up certain settings in the image. For example, the networking configuration
and SSH keys used in the image must be cleared.

Use the following instructions to copy a virtual server image and clean up the
settings in the resulting image manually.

Note: The following instructions require an expert-level knowledge of Linux. You


need to have root privileges to complete these steps. It is also assumed that you
use the bash shell to run these commands.

These instructions are specific to cleaning up the default master image that you
create when you run the image creation script manually. However, you can use the
same overall steps to modify any other virtual server image; the parameters to the
commands might differ depending on the original image that you use.

Create a virtual server, for example, mymaster.img, using the Create Virtual Server
wizard in IBM Systems Director. Customize the virtual server as needed. For
example, you can install and configure applications. When you are finished
customizing your virtual server, complete the following steps to clean your Xen
virtual server so that it can be used as the image to create additional virtual
servers.
1. Shut down and power off the customized Xen virtual server. In IBM Systems
Director Navigate Resources, right-click the virtual server and select Power and
Energy > Shutdown and Power Off.

Important: Shutting down the virtual server is necessary to avoid data


corruption.
2. Make a copy of the mymaster.img image and move it from var/opt/ibm/vm/
domains/mymaster.img to the /var/opt/ibm/vm/images directory. For example,
cp /var/opt/ibm/vm/domains/mymaster.img /var/opt/ibm/vm/images/

Note: mymaster.img is the virtual server you created using the Create Virtual
Server wizard, and have subsequently customized.
3. Mount the mymaster.img image to clean it:

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 609


a. Change to any temporary working directory and create a directory called
mnt using the following commands, for example:
cd /tmp
mkdir mnt
b. Determine the available loop devices on your system. To do this, issue one
of the following commands:
v Run the following command:
losetup -a

You might get an output similar to:


/dev/loop0: [0802]:152122 (/var/lib/xen/images/vm1/vm1)
/dev/loop1: [0802]:152127 (/var/lib/xen/images/vm2/vm2)

This output indicates that loop devices 0 and 1 are in use already.
v Run the following command:
cat /proc/mounts

You might get an output similar to:


/dev/hda1 on / type reiserfs (rw,acl,user_xattr)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,mode=0620,gid=5)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)

Check to see if any loop devices are mounted. If a loop device is


mounted, you will see /dev/loopx in the above output where x is the
number of the loop device being used.
For example: if you see a line such as the following, it means that
/dev/loop0 is in use:
/dev/loop0 /mnt iso9660 ro 0 0
Determine two available loop devices using this output. The following
instructions assume that you are using /dev/loop0 and /dev/loop1.
Substitute appropriately depending on the available loop devices in your
system.
c. Associate the loop device, /dev/loop0, to your new master image so that
you can examine the image and determine the partitions that are being used
in mymaster.img:
losetup /dev/loop0 /var/opt/ibm/vm/images/mymaster.img

Command and parameters Description


losetup The Linux command to set up and work
with loop devices.
/dev/loop0 Use loopback device 0.
/var/opt/ibm/vm/images/mymaster.img Name of the new master image.

d. Examine the partition table of the master image, by using the loop device.
Obtain the partition table information by running the following command:
fdisk -l -u /dev/loop0

610 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Command and parameters Description
fdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux.
-l Parameter to list the partition tables for the
specified device.
-u Parameter to display sizes in sectors instead
of cylinders.
/dev/loop0 Display the partition table from the device
/dev/loop0.

This command gives you a table-like output. For example:


Disk /dev/loop0: 2147 MB, 2147484672 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 261 cylinders, total 4194306 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System


/dev/loop0p1 * 63 530144 265041 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/loop0p2 * 530145 4192964 1831410 83 Linux

Find the entry that corresponds to the root file system partition. For the
default images created by the image creation script, this is hda2 or the
second row in the partition table. If you created an image with the image
creation script using the --noauto option and specified a custom partitioning
scheme, find the appropriate row in this table.
In the same row, find the value under the Start column that gives the
starting offset of the root partition. This is typically 530145 for the default
master images. Also, in the table header, you will see the sector size used
for the image given in the Units = sectors of 1 * xx = xx bytes row (or a
similar row). xx is typically 512. Note the values for the starting offset
(start_offset) and the sector size (sector_size).
e. Mount the root partition of mymaster.img to a loop device by issuing the
following command:
losetup -o $((start_offset*sector_size)) /dev/loop1 /dev/loop0

where start_offset and sector_size are the values you noted in the previous
step. For example: losetup -o $((530145*512)) /dev/loop1 /dev/loop0
This command associates the data starting from offset 530145*512 in
/dev/loop0 to /dev/loop1.

Command and parameters Description


losetup Linux command to set up and control loop
devices.
-o $((start_offset*sector_size)) Associate the data starting from this offset to
/dev/loop1. The start_sector and sector_size
values are the values you obtained in the
previous step.
/dev/loop1 Set up the loop device /dev/loop1 to hold
the root partition in the image.
/dev/loop0 Use /dev/loop0 as the source device to
associate to /dev/loop1.

f. Mount the root file system for the mymaster.img image to the ./mnt
directory using the following command:
mount /dev/loop1 ./mnt

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 611


Command and parameters Description
mount Linux command to mount a file system.
/dev/loop1 Mount the filesystem from the device,
/dev/loop1.
./mnt Mount the filesystem to the directory ./mnt.

Note: If you get errors while trying to use the loop0 or loop1 devices saying
that the resource is busy, go back to a previous step to determine the
available devices.
g. Clean the networking configuration and ssh keys in the image and set the
YaST configuration tool to run at boot using the following commands:
rm ./mnt/etc/udev/rules.d/30-net_persistent_names.rules
rm ./mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_*

Command and parameters Description


rm The Linux command to remove a file.
./mnt/etc/udev/rules.d/30- Indicates the old network configuration files
net_persistent_names.rules to be removed.
./mnt/etc/ssh/ssh_host_* Indicates the location of the old ssh keys to
be removed.
touch The Linux command to change the
timestamp to the current time.

h. Unmount and detach loop devices using the following commands:


umount ./mnt
losetup -d /dev/loop1
losetup -d /dev/loop0
rmdir ./mnt

Note: Ensure that these devices are unmounted correctly to avoid data
corruption in the new image.

Command and parameters Description


umount Linux command to unmount file systems.
losetup –d Detaches the file or device associated with
the loop device.
rmdir Remove directory.

You now have a new master image created in the /var/opt/ibm/vm/images


directory. Use the Create Virtual Server Wizard to create a new virtual server,
and select the new master image, mymaster.img. When the new virtual server is
first booted, you will be prompted to customize it with authentication,
networking, and other configuration parameters.

Creating image repositories for Xen manually


Virtualization manager defines an image repository in the local file system on the
Xen host system. However, you can create additional image repositories by editing
the image-repository configuration file on the host system.

Creating an image repository for Xen locally:

612 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Create a new image repository for Xen in your local file system by editing the
image-repository configuration file.

To create an image repository for Xen in the local file system, complete the
following steps:
1. On the Xen host system, use a text editor to open the repository.prop file from
the following directory path:
/opt/ibm/director/vm/im/repository.prop
2. Update the repository.prop file as shown in the following example.
This sample code from the repository.prop file indicates that there is a default
image repository in the local file system and gives the location for master
images and clone images:
repository.2.label = "Xen"
repository.2.type = "local"
repository.2.masterPath = "/opt/ibm/director/vm/images/masters"
repository.2.clonePath = "/opt/ibm/director/vm/images/clones"
3. To verify that the image repository was created successfully, complete the
following steps:
a. In the Web interface, use the View and Collect Inventory task on the Xen
host system. Select Software Images Discovery for the inventory collection
profile.

Note: Before you can collect or view inventory for a resource, you must
discover that resource using System Discovery.
b. To view the image repository, use one of the following methods:
v Using the Web interface:
From the View and Collect Inventory task, click Refresh View. Verify that
the specified image repository is displayed in the inventory data list and
table, for example, Xen.
v Using the systems management command-line interface (smcli):
Run the following command on IBM Systems Director Server:
smcli lsresources imagerepository

Verify that the specified image repository is displayed in the output, for
example, Xen.

Creating an image repository for Xen on an NFS:

Create a new image repository for Xen on a Network File System (NFS) by editing
the image-repository configuration file.

Use the following example as a guide for creating a new image repository for Xen
on an NFS. The example consists of the following components:
v NFS share on NFS Server srv.domain.com
v Managed system: Xen host A
v Managed system: Xen host B

Xen host A and Xen host B are both connected to NFS Server srv.domain.com and
share the image repositories located on the NFS.

To create a new image repository for Xen on the NFS, complete the following
steps:

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 613


1. Configure an NFS if you have not done so already.
a. On NFS server srv.domain.com, complete the following steps:
1) Update the /etc/exports file as follows:
/images *(rw, sync, no_root_squash)
2) Run the following command to apply the new export:
exportfs -a
3) Create two subdirectories under the exported directory that will hold
master images and clone images, as follows:
mkdir /images/masters
mkdir /images/clones
b. On Xen host system A and Xen host system B, update the /etc/fstab file as
follows:
srv.domain.com:/images /opt/ibm/director/vm/nfs_images nfs defaults 0 0
c. On Xen host A and Xen host B, mount the following:
mount /opt/ibm/director/vm/nfs_images
2. On Xen host A and Xen host B, use a text editor to open the repository.prop file
from the following directory path:
/opt/ibm/director/vm/im/repository.prop
3. Update the repository.prop file as shown in the following example.
This sample code indicates that there is an image repository on an NFS and
gives the location for master images and clone images:
repository.2.label = "Xen shared NFS"
repository.2.type = "nfs"
repository.2.masterPath = "/opt/ibm/director/vm/nfs_images/masters"
repository.2.clonePath = "/opt/ibm/director/vm/nfs_images/clones"
4. To verify that the image repository was created successfully, complete the
following steps:
a. On the Web interface, use the View and Collect Inventory task on the Xen
host systems. Select Software Images Discovery for the inventory collection
profile.

Note: Before you can collect or view inventory for a resource, you must
discover that resource using System Discovery.
b. To view the image repository, use one of the following methods:
v Using the Web interface:
From the View and Collect Inventory task, click Refresh View. Verify that
the specified image repository is displayed in the inventory data list and
table, for example, Xen.
v Using the systems management command-line interface (smcli):
Run the following command on IBM Systems Director Server:
smcli lsresources imagerepository

Verify that the specified image repository is displayed in the output, for
example, Xen.

Creating a virtual server


You can use the Create Virtual Server wizard to create virtual servers on your host
systems. The wizard guides you through the virtual-server creation process.

The Create Virtual Server task is available on systems running in the following
virtualization environments:

614 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v Hardware Management Console (HMC)
v Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
v Microsoft Virtual Server
v VMware ESX Server
v VMware ESX Server hosts that are under the control of VMware VirtualCenter
v Xen Virtualization

The wizard prompts you to provide information such as the name, processing
units, memory, and storage to allocate to the virtual server. The information it
requests is specific to the virtualization environment in which the virtual server is
being created.

The Create Virtual Server task usually does not install an operating system. You
install the appropriate operating system after the virtual server is created.
However, in the Xen virtualization environment, a system image is required to
complete the Create Virtual Server wizard. Then, when the Xen virtual-server
creation is completed, the operating system is installed and the new virtual server
is ready to use.

To create a virtual server, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and click System
Configuration > Create Virtual Server.
3. Complete the instructions in the Create Virtual Server wizard to set up a virtual
server.
4. In the Scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Virtual and physical processors:

Use the resources in this section to learn about virtual and physical processors for
Power Systems.

To learn about virtual and physical processors for Power Systems, refer to the
following information:
v For POWER 5 systems, see "Processors."
v For POWER 6 systems, see the Logical Partitioning Guide in one of the following
information center topics:
– "9406-MMA (IBM System i® 570)"
– "PDF files for the 9117-MMA (IBM Power 570)"
Related reference

Processors

9406-MMA (IBM System i 570)

PDF files for the 9117-MMA (IBM Power 570)

Creating a virtual server for Microsoft Virtual Server:

Use the Create Virtual Server wizard for Microsoft Virtual Server to specify a
specific location to create a virtual server.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 615


When you create a virtual server in a Microsoft Virtual Server environment, the
virtual server is created in the following default location: C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\Shared Virtual Machines\.

To create a virtual server in a location other than the default location, go to the
Virtual Server Name field, and type the fully qualified path of the location in
which you want to create the virtual server, for example,
C:\MyVirtualServers\VirtualServer1

If the directory does not exist, it will be created.

This concept also applies to a shared storage location such as a storage area
network (SAN). In this scenario, the host system must have a shared drive
associated with the storage location.

Deleting image repositories for Xen


You can delete image repositories for Xen by editing the image-repository
configuration file

To delete an image repository for Xen, complete the following steps:


1. On the Xen host system, use a text editor to open the repository.prop file from
the following directory path:
/opt/ibm/director/vm/imagemgr/repository.prop
2. Update the repository.prop file by deleting the image repository.
The following example code from the repository.prop file indicates a default
image repository in the local file system and the location for master images and
clone images. You can delete the image repository by removing or changing the
values in the repository.prop file.
repository.0.label = "Default"
repository.0.type = "local"
repository.0.masterPath = "/var/opt/ibm/vm/images"
repository.0.clonePath = "/var/opt/ibm/vm/domains"
3. To verify that the image repository was deleted, complete the following steps:
a. In the Web interface, use the View and Collect Inventory task on the Xen
host system. Select Software Images Discovery for the inventory collection
profile.

Note: Before you can collect or view inventory for a resource, you must
discover that resource using System Discovery or Advanced System
Discovery.
b. To view the inventory for the Xen host system, use one of the following
methods:
v Using the Web interface:
From the View and Collect Inventory task, click Refresh View. Verify
that the specified image repository is not displayed in the inventory data
list and table.
v Using the systems management command-line interface (smcli):
Run the following command on IBM Systems Director Server:
smcli lsresources imagerepository

Verify that the specified image repository is not displayed in the output.

616 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Creating a virtual disk for Xen
Create new virtual disks on the Xen host system when you want to assign
additional virtual disks to your Xen virtual servers.

To create a virtual disk for Xen, complete the following steps:


1. From a command prompt on the Xen host system, type the following command
and press Enter:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/var/opt/ibm/vm/disks/virtual_disk_name bs=1M
count=size_in_MB

where:
v virtual_disk_name is the name you want to specify for the new virtual disk,
for example, virtualdisk1.dsk.
v size_in_MB is the number of megabytes that you want to specify as the size
for the new virtual disk, for example, 10.
2. To view the name of the new virtual disk, type the following command and
press Enter:
ls -la /var/opt/ibm/vm/disks/
The name of the virtual disk is displayed in the output.
3. To view and manage the new virtual disk, complete the following steps in the
Web interface:
a. Discover the Xen host system using System Discovery.
b. Click Navigate Resources to navigate to the Xen host system.
c. Request access to the Xen host system. After the view is refreshed, you can
view the new virtual disk.

Deleting a virtual server permanently


If you no longer require a virtual server, you can delete it permanently from its
associated host.

If you perform this task, the virtual server cannot be rediscovered and instead
must be re-created.

You can permanently delete a virtual server from its associated host only when the
virtual server has been powered off.

Note: In some cases, the delete virtual server task removes the associated disk
storage. However the delete virtual server task does not delete the associated disk
storage in the following environments:
v Power Systems servers managed by Hardware Management Console or
Integrated Virtualization Manager
v Xen virtualization

Complete the following steps to delete a virtual server from its associated host:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the virtual server.
2. Select the virtual server, click Actions > System Configuration from the menu
bar, and click Permanently Delete.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 617


To perform this task using the systems management command-line interface,
specify the ID, string ID, or title of the task with the runtask command.

For example:
smcli runtask -n my_vs "Permanently Delete"

where my_vs is the name of the target virtual server. Refer to runtask for more
information.

In a Power Systems environment, you can also use the rmvs command to delete a
virtual server. The rmvs command includes the option of removing the associated
disk storage. Refer to rmvs for more information.

Editing host resources


You can edit the resources for a host running VMware ESX Server that is under
VMware VirtualCenter control to enable relocation for VMware VirtualCenter
VMotion. You can also edit host resources for an IBM Power Systems.

For Power Systems that are under the control of the Hardware Management
Console (HMC) or the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM), you can edit disk
resources for the host, as well as processor and memory allocations for the virtual
servers that are running on the host.

Note: The edit host resources task might take several minutes to complete for
Power Systems that are managed by the HMC or IVM. Results can be found in the
job log associated with the request.

Complete the following steps to edit host resources:

Note: You can also perform this task using the virtualization commands from the
systems management command-line interface. For more information, see
"Virtualization commands."
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources to locate
the host that you want to edit.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select System
Configuration > Edit Host. The Edit Host Resources window opens.
3. After completing the changes you want to request, click OK.
4. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Editing virtual servers


You can edit the virtual resources that are allocated to a virtual server. Depending
on the platform, you can edit resources such as memory, processors, and virtual
disks.

You must power off a virtual server before you can change the values of most
attributes. The following exceptions apply:
v For a VMware VirtualCenter or VMware ESX Server environment and Microsoft
Virtual Server environment, the virtual server can be running when you change
the value of the undoable disk attributes.

618 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v In a Power Systems environment, in which systems are managed by the
Hardware Management Console (HMC) or the Integrated Virtualization Manager
(IVM), the virtual server can be running when you edit memory and processor
allocations.
v In a z/VM environment with IBM Systems Director VMControl installed, you
can edit active virtual servers to add and configure the following new
components: processors, disk storage, and network ports. You can also set the
CPUAFFINITY and share values for processors.
When you are editing an active virtual server, you can select how you want the
changes applied. You can choose to apply the changes in the following ways:
– To the current session only.
– To the stored settings that will take effect after the next restart.
– To both the active settings in the current session and the stored settings that
will continue to be used after the next restart.

The resources that you are able to edit on a powered off virtual server vary by the
type of virtual server to which the resources are allocated:
v In a VMware VirtualCenter or VMware ESX Server environment, you can set the
memory size, the number of central processing units (CPUs), the virtual disk
type, and the PowerON and PowerOFF action for undoable disks.
If VMware VirtualCenter is using VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler
(DRS) you can choose whether a virtual server can move from its current host,
If VMware VirtualCenter is using VMware High Availability (HA) you can edit
the restart priority.

Note: The PowerOn and PowerOFF actions for undoable disks cannot be set for
VMware ESX Server 3.0.
v In a Microsoft Virtual Server environment, you can set the memory size, the
virtual disk mode, and the PowerOFF action for undoable disks.
v In a Power Systems environment, you can edit the minimum, maximum, and
assigned processors for virtual servers that are running in both shared processor
mode and dedicated processor mode. You can also edit the virtual or physical
disks that are assigned, the minimum and maximum memory that is assigned,
virtual Ethernet adapters, and the optical devices that are assigned to a virtual
server.
In a Power Systems environment that is managed by the HMC or the IVM, you
can edit the physical I/O slots that are assigned to a virtual server, so that you
can assign non-virtualized I/O devices such as physical storage or Ethernet
adapters. For virtual servers running the IBM i operating system, you can select
a load source and an alternate restart device.
For virtual servers that are powered on and managed by the HMC, you can
choose to change virtual server settings temporarily or permanently. Temporary
changes remain in effect only until you power off the virtual server.

Notes:
– The edit virtual resources task might take several minutes to complete for
Power Systems that are managed by the HMC or the IVM. Check the
job-instance log for status.
– For a Virtual I/O Server, you can edit only memory and processor resources.
v In a Xen environment, you can edit the processors assigned to the virtual server,
the virtual disk assigned, and the minimum and maximum memory available.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 619


v In a z/VM environment with IBM Systems Director VMControl installed, you
can edit processors assigned to the virtual server as well as their share values,
the initial and maximum memory assigned, the storage associated, the networks
assigned, and the server settings that are specified. The types of virtual server
storage that you can edit are minidisks, virtual storage disks, temporary disks,
linked disks, and dedicated disks. However, you cannot increase the size of a
z/VM minidisk. For server settings on the virtual server you can edit privilege
classes, options, and IPL statements.

To edit the virtual resources of a virtual server, complete the following steps:

Note: Alternatively, you can perform this task using the virtualization commands
from the systems management command-line interface. For more information, see
"Virtualization commands."
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources to locate
the virtual server that you want to edit.
2. Select the virtual server, click Actions from the menu bar, and select System
Configuration > Edit Virtual Server.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Accessing the Xen remote console


Access the Xen console remotely for your Xen virtual servers.

To access a Xen console remotely, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the Xen virtual server that you want to access remotely.
2. Select the virtual server, click Actions from the menu bar, and select System
Configuration > Remote Access > Launch Remote Console.

Managing power operations on virtual servers


IBM Systems Director supports power operations that you can perform on virtual
servers.

Note: (Virtualization manager subagent for VMware VirtualCenter only) Even


though a power operation for a virtual server is initiated through VMware
VirtualCenter, if the virtual server contains undoable disks, IBM Systems Director
responds to questions about the power operation. This can be confusing since
VMware VirtualCenter reports that there are questions to answer, but IBM Systems
Director has already answered the questions. You can disregard the questions that
might appear in VMware VirtualCenter. This situation does not occur when you
are using the virtualization manager Agents for VMware ESX Server or VMware
GSX Server.

Managing power operations for a single virtual server


You can complete the following power operations on individual virtual servers:
Power On, Restart Now, Power Off Now, Shutdown and Power Off, Suspend, and
Resume.

The table below describes the power operations that you can perform.

Note: Systems that are controlled by a Hardware Management Console (HMC) do


not have the following power operations available:
v Shutdown and Power Off
620 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
v Suspend
v Resume
Table 54. Menu options for power-management operations for virtual servers
Menu option Description
Power Off Now The virtual server is turned off without an orderly shutdown of its guest
operating system. This operation immediately stops all applications that
are in use on that guest operating system.
Power On The virtual server is turned on.
Restart Now The virtual server is restarted immediately, which means that it is
restarted without an orderly shutdown of its guest operating system.
This operation immediately stops all applications that are in use on that
guest operating system.
Resume The virtual server resumes operation and is no longer suspended.
Shutdown and (Virtualization manager subagent for VMware VirtualCenter only) If
Power Off VMware Tools is installed on the guest operating system, this menu
option performs an orderly shutdown of the guest operating system and
then turns off the virtual server. However, if VMware Tools is not
installed on the guest operating system, this menu option will fail.

(Virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server only) If


VMware Tools is installed on the guest operating system, this menu
option performs an orderly shutdown of the guest operating system and
then turns off the virtual server. However, if VMware Tools is not
installed, this menu option will fail.

(Virtualization manager subagent for Microsoft Virtual Server only) If


the guest operating system is a Windows operating system and if
Microsoft Virtual Machine Additions is installed on the guest operating
system, this menu option performs an orderly shutdown of the guest
operating system and then turns off the virtual server.
Suspend The virtual server remains turned on but is suspended from use.

Only those operations that are applicable to the selected virtual server are
available. For example, if a virtual server is suspended, the only available power
operation is Resume.

Complete the following steps to perform a power-management operation for a


virtual server:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the virtual server.
2. Select the virtual server, click Actions from the menu bar, select Power On/Off,
and select the power action that you want to perform.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

Powering on all stopped virtual servers


You can use IBM Systems Director to power on all stopped virtual servers on a
host.

The power-on operation applies only to virtual servers that are turned off. It does
not affect virtual servers that are already turned on or suspended.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 621


Complete the following steps to turn on all stopped virtual servers that are
associated with a single host:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host that contains the virtual servers that you want to power on.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Power On/Off > >
Power On All Virtual Servers.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

To perform this task using the systems management command-line interface,


specify the ID, string ID, or title of the task with the runtask command.

For example:
smcli runtask -n my_sys "Power On All Virtual Servers"

where my_sys is the name of the target system. Refer to runtask for more
information.

Resuming all suspended virtual servers


You can use IBM Systems Director to resume the operation of all suspended virtual
servers on a host.

This power operation applies only to virtual servers that are suspended. It does
not affect virtual servers that are turned off or already running.

Complete the following steps to resume the operation of all suspended virtual
servers that are associated with a single host:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host that contains the virtual servers that you want to resume.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Power On/Off >
Resume All Suspended Virtual Servers.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

To perform this task using the systems management command-line interface,


specify the ID, string ID, or title of the task with the runtask command.

For example:
smcli runtask -n my_sys "Resume All Suspended Virtual Servers"

where my_sys is the name of the target system. Refer to runtask for more
information.

Suspending all running virtual servers


You can use IBM Systems Director to suspend all running virtual servers on a host.

This power operation applies only to virtual servers that are running. It does not
affect virtual servers that are turned off or already suspended.

Complete the following steps to suspend all running virtual servers that are
associated with a single host:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host that contains the virtual servers that you want to suspend.

622 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Power On/Off >
Suspend All Running Virtual Servers.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

To perform this task using the systems management command-line interface,


specify the ID, string ID, or title of the task with the runtask command.

For example:
smcli runtask -n my_sys "Suspend All Running Virtual Servers"

where my_sys is the name of the target system. Refer to runtask for more
information.

Powering off all running virtual servers


You can use IBM Systems Director to power off all virtual servers that are running
on a host.

The power-off operation applies only to virtual servers that are turned on. It does
not affect virtual servers that are already turned off or suspended.

Complete the following steps to turn off all running virtual servers that are
associated with a single host:

Important: This operation forces a virtual server to turn off without an orderly
shutdown of its guest operating system. All applications that are in use on that
guest operating system are immediately stopped.
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host that contains the virtual servers that you want to power off.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select Power On/Off >
Force Power Off All Virtual Servers.
3. In the scheduler window, click OK to run the task immediately. You also can
schedule to run this task at a later time.

To perform this task using the systems management command-line interface,


specify the ID, string ID, or title of the task with the runtask command.

For example:
smcli runtask -n my_sys "Force Power Off All Virtual Servers"

where my_sys is the name of the target system. Refer to runtask for more
information.

Relocating virtual servers


You can use IBM Systems Director virtualization manager to relocate a single
virtual server or all of the virtual servers on a host.

Virtual server relocation


Virtual server relocation is the act of moving a virtual server from one host to
another host. Two types of relocation exist: live relocation and static relocation. The
types of relocation that are available for the system to use are dependent on the
virtualization environment.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 623


Live relocation does not modify the power state of the virtual server throughout the
relocation. For example, if a virtual server is powered on when the relocation
begins, it will remain powered on with guest operating systems available for use
throughout the relocation process. Live relocation is an option in the following
virtualization environments:
v IBM Power Systems that are under the control of the Hardware Management
Console or the Integrated Virtualization Manager
v Virtualization manager subagent for VMware VirtualCenter with VMware ESX
Server hosts
v Xen

If a virtual server is powered on during static relocation, the relocation operation


powers off the virtual server at the beginning of the relocation process and powers
on the virtual server again when the relocation is complete. Only static relocation
can be used when you are running in one of the following virtualization
environments:
v Virtualization manager subagent for Microsoft Virtual Server
v Virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server

Static relocation:

IBM Systems Director Server supports static relocation of virtual servers when you
are using the virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server or Microsoft
Virtual Server. You can also relocate a Xen virtual server, or a virtual server that is
running on an IBM Power Systems that is under the control of the Hardware
Management Console or the Integrated Virtualization Manager.

In addition to the general cautions, static relocation requires that these additional
cautions be observed when you are relocating virtual servers:
v Be sure that virtual servers to be relocated are either turned on or turned off. If a
virtual server is turned on at the start of a static relocation, virtualization
manager turns off the virtual server, completes the relocation, and then turns on
the virtual server when the relocation completes.
Before any virtual servers are turned off, the guest operating systems on
relocated virtual servers are shut down in an orderly way. When the virtual
servers are turned on after the relocation, the guest operating systems are
restarted.
v (Virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server only) Secure copy
(scp) must be enabled on all VMware ESX Server hosts that are using
Virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server. This requirement
applies only to VMware ESX Server hosts that are running versions earlier than
VMware ESX Server 3.0 Service Console. Secure copy is not required on hosts
running VMware ESX Server 3.0 Service Console.
v (Virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server only) The access mode
of the shared Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) volume should be public.
v (Virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server only) Make sure that
all VMFS volumes on your managed hosts use volume names, and that the
virtual servers use the volume names for specifying the virtual disks.
v (Virtualization manager subagent for VMware ESX Server only) The virtual
server configuration file should not reside on a VMFS partition. This
requirement does not apply to hosts running VMware ESX Server 3.0 Service
Console.

624 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v (Microsoft Virtual Server hosts only) Extra steps must be completed to account
for volumes in these environments. Specifically, virtual servers on the source
host must be put on a volume on a shared storage area network (SAN) and the
target host must have access to this shared SAN.
v (Microsoft Virtual Server hosts only) Any saved files (from a suspend operation)
and undo disk files must be on shared storage.
v (Virtualization manager subagent for Microsoft Virtual Server only) Relocation of
a virtual server that has the same display name as a virtual server on the target
host is not supported.
v (Virtualization manager subagent for Microsoft Virtual Server only) Relocation of
a virtual server that contains one or more differencing or linked disks is not
supported.

During a static relocation, loss of network connectivity during virtual server


relocation can cause the virtual server to be inaccessible.

In the VMware VirtualCenter documentation, static relocation is referred to as


migration.

Live relocation:

You can perform live relocation of virtual servers when using the Virtualization
manager subagent for VMware VirtualCenter. You can also relocate a Xen virtual
server, or a virtual server that is running on an IBM Power Systems that is under
the control of the Hardware Management Console or the Integrated Virtualization
Manager.

Live relocation in a VMware ESX environment: Live relocation for VMware


VirtualCenter is supported only for hosts that are running VMware ESX Server in a
VMware VirtualCenter environment. The guest operating systems on relocated
virtual servers remain available for use; they are not shut down.

VMware VirtualCenter VMotion must be enabled on both the source host and
target host between which you want to perform a live relocation of virtual servers.
You can use VMware VirtualCenter client to enable VMotion for the applicable
hosts. For information about VMware VirtualCenter VMotion requirements, see the
documentation included with VMware VirtualCenter. When using VMware
VirtualCenter 1.3, you can use virtualization manager to set a host attribute that
enables relocation.

Live relocation is not supported for virtual servers that contain undoable disks that
are turned off with the PowerOFF action to keep (that is, save the changes in a
redo log).

During a live relocation, VMware VirtualCenter is sometimes unable to relocate a


virtual server in an active state, as requested.

In the VMware VirtualCenter documentation, live relocation is referred to as


migration with VMotion.

Relocation requirements:

Before you start a virtual server relocation, ensure that you meet the relocation
requirements.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 625


v Relocation of virtual servers is possible only between hosts within the same
virtual farm.
v Both the source and target host must have access to a shared storage area
network (SAN).

Note: For Xen relocation, the virtual server image must be available on a shared
storage volume, with that volume mounted by both the source and target host.
v Both the source and target host must have access to a shared communications
network.
v The target host must have enough memory to support the virtual server.

Note: Additionally, for Xen, the source host must have memory available that is
equal to or greater than the virtual server or virtual servers that you want to
relocate.
v The target host must support the configuration version of the virtual server.
v Relocation of clustered virtual servers is not supported.
v Relocation of virtual servers that are suspended or in a transition state is not
supported.

Note: Additionally, for Xen, the virtual server cannot be in an offline or paused
state.
v Source and target hosts must have a virtual network device with the same label.

Note: For Xen, the bridge must have the same name on both the source and
target hosts.
v Virtual servers to be relocated cannot be connected to a removable device such
as a CD drive or diskette drive.
v The version of a configuration file for a virtual server must be supported by the
virtualization application with which the virtualization manager subagent
communicates. Otherwise, the virtual server cannot be relocated.
v (IBM Power Systems only) To relocate a virtual server, ensure that you meet the
minimum virtualization software requirements for the HMC and the IVM.
IBM Power Systems relocation leverages Live Partition Mobility functionality, a
component of the PowerVM Enterprise Edition hardware feature. To utilize the
relocation functionality in IBM Systems Director, you must meet the
requirements described in the “Live Partition Mobility” documentation. For
more information, see the preparation sections in the “Moving the mobile
partition using the HMC” or “Moving the mobile partition using the Integrated
Virtualization Manager” topics.

For further information about virtual server relocation and potential restrictions for
a specific virtualization application, see its included documentation.

626 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related concepts

Live Partition Mobility


Related tasks

Live Partition Mobility on HMC-managed systems

Live Partition Mobility on IVM-managed systems


Relocating a virtual server
Related reference

Virtualization software supported by IBM Systems Director

Enabling static relocation for Microsoft Virtual Server hosts


If you want to use static relocation for virtual servers that are associated with
Microsoft Virtual Server hosts, you must complete extra steps to account for
volumes in these environments.

A volume is a discrete unit of storage on disk, tape or other data recording medium
that supports some form of identifier and parameter list, such as a volume label or
input/output control.

Notes:
1. A volume should be mounted at only one mount point on the source host. A
volume mounted at multiple mount points is not supported.
2. Make sure that the volume that contains the virtual server to be relocated does
not contain any files that are not related to the virtual server. If the volume
contains any files that are not related to the virtual server, everything in the
volume will become inaccessible as soon as the volume is dismounted.
3. When relocating multiple virtual servers on one volume, the relocation
operation succeeds only when all virtual servers on the same volume are
successfully relocated. The operation fails when any of the virtual servers on
the same volume fail to be relocated. In that case, all virtual servers on the
volume are registered again to the source host.
4. Relocation is supported on primary partitions only.

Complete the following steps to perform static relocation for virtual servers that
are associated with Microsoft Virtual Server hosts:
1. Create a volume on the storage area network (SAN). Make sure that the
volume you create is large enough to hold the virtual server.
2. Mount the volume at the source host.
3. Make sure that the destination host can access the volume as initialized or
formatted. If not, the destination host may need to be restarted. However, do
not mount the volume at the destination host.
4. Create a virtual server on the source host and put it on this volume.
5. Create relocation tasks for the virtual server.

Enabling secure copy (scp) for static relocation with


Virtualization manager subagent for ESX
If you want to use static relocation for VMware ESX Server hosts, you must enable
secure copy (scp) on all VMware ESX Server hosts.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 627


Note: Secure copy is not required on hosts running VMware ESX Server 3.0
Service Console.

Secure copy must be enabled using RSA certificates, which provides secure transfer
of files without requiring the user ID and password for each file transfer operation.

Static relocation will fail for a destination host unless you can copy (or pull) a file
at the destination host from a source host by using the scp command without
entering a password.

If the hosts are moved to a different network, the steps in this procedure must be
repeated.

Complete the following steps to enable secure copy (scp) on a destination host that
is running Virtualization manager subagent for ESX:
1. Create an RSA public key.
a. At the command prompt of the source host, enter ssh-keygen -t rsa.
b. Store the generated key in a default location and do not use a passphrase.

Note: If you specify a different location other than /root/.ssh/, you must
adjust any other steps that use the default path.
2. Add the public key to the authorized_keys file for any ESX host that you want
to use as a destination host for relocation.
a. On the source host on which you created the RSA public key, copy the .pub
file to a directory that is accessible through File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
b. Use FTP to log in to both ESX hosts (source and destination) and copy the
.pub file from the source host to the destination host.
c. From the console of the destination host, copy the .pub file to
/root/.ssh/authorized_keys.

Note: If this file already exists, do not overwrite it. Instead, add the
information in the .pub file to the existing /root/.ssh/authorized_keys file.
3. Change the permissions on the authorized_keys file and the ssh subdirectory.
a. On the console of the destination host, type cd /root.
b. Type chmod go-w .ssh .ssh/authorized_keys
4. On all ESX hosts that will be destination hosts, add the ESX host to the
known_host list.
a. On the console of the destination host, type ssh source_IPaddress.
b. b. When you are asked whether you want to add the host to the
known_host list, answer yes.
c. Exit from the secure shell.
d. Repeat steps a - c for all destination hosts until they have added the source
hosts to the known_host list.
e. Repeat steps a - c for all source hosts until each has added the destination
hosts to the known_host list.
5. Copy the required Perl scripts onto each host.
a. From the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN), download the
ShellQuote.pm, SCP.pm, and SSH.pm scripts.
b. Copy SCP.pm and SSH.pm into /usr/lib/vmware/perl5/site_perl/
perl_version/Net/ directory, where perl_version is the version of Perl that you
are using. You might need to create the Net subdirectory.

628 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


c. Copy the ShellQuote.pm file into /usr/lib/vmware/perl5/site_perl/
perl_version/String/ Directory, where perl_version is the version of Perl that
you are using. You might need to create the String folder.

Relocating a virtual server


To optimize resource utilization, you can relocate a single virtual server from one
host to another. When the hosts are within the same virtual farm, you can relocate
all virtual servers on a host to another host.

Ensure that you meet the following requirements to relocate virtual servers:
v Relocation of virtual servers is only possible between hosts within the same
virtual farm.
v Both the source and target host must have access to a shared storage area
network (SAN).

Note: For Xen relocation, the virtual server image must be available on a shared
storage volume, with that volume mounted by both the source and target host.
v Both the source and target host must have access to a shared communications
network
v The target host must have enough memory to support the virtual server.

Note: Additionally, for Xen, the source host must have memory available that is
equal to or greater than the virtual server or virtual servers that you want to
relocate.
v The target host must support the configuration version of the virtual server.
v Relocation of clustered virtual servers is not supported.
v Relocation of virtual servers that are suspended or in a transition state is not
supported.

Note: Additionally, for Xen, the virtual server cannot be in an offline or paused
state.
v Source and target hosts must have a virtual network device with the same label.

Note: For Xen, the bridge must have the same name on both the source and
target hosts.
v Virtual servers to be relocated cannot be connected to a removable device such
as a CD drive or diskette drive
v The version of a configuration file for a virtual server must be supported by the
virtualization application that Virtualization manager subagent communicates
with. Otherwise, the virtual server cannot be relocated.
v IBM Power Systems only: To relocate a virtual server, ensure that you meet the
minimum virtualization software requirements.
Power Systems relocation leverages Live Partition Mobility functionality, a
component of the PowerVM Enterprise Edition hardware feature. To utilize the
relocation functionality in IBM Systems Director, you must meet the
requirements described in the “Live Partition Mobility” documentation. For
more information, see the preparation sections in the “Moving the mobile
partition using the HMC” or “Moving the mobile partition using the Integrated
Virtualization Manager” topics.

For further information about virtual server relocation for a specific virtualization
application, see its included documentation.

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 629


You can relocate a single virtual server or all virtual servers on a host by running
the relocation wizard. You can also create a relocation plan to facilitate relocation.
You can run the relocation plan immediately or save the plan to run later. The
Relocate Virtual Server wizard gives you the following options:
v Relocate and save plan
v Save plan only
v Relocate only

Note: With the Relocate only option, the relocation job is run directly.

To relocate one or more virtual servers using the Relocate Virtual Server wizard,
complete the following steps:
1. From the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, expand Availability,
and click Relocate.
2. Complete the instructions in the relocation wizard.

To create a relocation plan, complete the following steps:


1. From the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Relocation Plans.
3. On the Relocation Plans page, click Create in the menu bar.
4. Follow the instructions in the Create Relocation Plan wizard to create a
relocation plan.
Related concepts
“Relocation requirements” on page 594

Live Partition Mobility


Related tasks

Live Partition Mobility on HMC-managed systems

Live Partition Mobility on IVM-managed systems

Activating a relocation plan


After you have created and saved a relocation plan, you can run the relocation
plan, or schedule it to run at the appropriate time.

To run a relocation plan or schedule a relocation plan to run, complete the


following steps:
1. From the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Relocation Plans to display all saved relocation plans.
3. Click the relocation plan you want to run or schedule to run.

Note: Ensure the relocation plan is accurate for the current environment. If
resources that are defined in the relocation plan have changed, or the plan has
been activated previously, it might not be valid.
4. In the scheduler window, the Run Now option is selected by default. Click OK
to run the relocation plan immediately, or select Schedule to specify the day
and time you want to schedule the relocation plan to run.

Deleting a relocation plan


If you no longer require a certain relocation plan, you can remove it from the
Relocation Plans view by deleting it.

630 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To delete a relocation plan, complete the following steps:
1. From the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Relocation Plans to display all saved relocation plans.
3. Select the relocation plan you want to delete and click Delete in the menu bar.

Editing a relocation plan


When you have defined a relocation plan, you can modify the plan by changing
the source host, target host, and other attributes of the plan with the Edit
Relocation Plan task.

To edit a relocation plan, complete the following steps:


1. From the IBM Systems Director Server navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Relocation Plans to display all saved relocation plans.
3. Select the relocation plan you want to change, and click Edit in the menu bar.
4. Follow the instructions in the wizard to edit the relocation plan.

Viewing relocation plans


You can access all of your saved relocation plans in one location by using the
relocation plan view.

From the relocation plan view, you can see all of your saved virtual-server
relocation plans, along with basic information about them: the type of relocation
plan (whether it is for a single virtual server, or for all virtual servers on the host),
the source host or virtual server, the target host, and a description of the plan. The
relocation plan view is also a single point of management from which you can
access tasks to edit, delete, or run existing relocation plans, or create new ones. You
can use this view to make any necessary changes to relocation plans to ensure that
they are accurate for the current environment, based on relocation plans being
activated or resources that are defined in the plan being changed.

To access the relocation plan view, complete the following steps:


1. From the IBM Systems Director navigation area, expand Availability.
2. Click Relocation Plans.

Launch VMware ESX Manager User Interface


You can launch the VMware ESX Manager User Interface to manage your VMware
ESX hosts.

To launch the VMware ESX Manager User Interface, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host from which you want to start the VMware ESX Manager User
Interface.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select System
Configuration > Launch VMware ESX Manager User Interface.
The VMware ESX Manager User Interface is started in a new window.

Launch VMware VirtualCenter Console


You can launch the VMware VirtualCenter Console to manage your VMware
VirtualCenter hosts.

To launch the VMware VirtualCenter Console, complete the following steps:

Chapter 14. Managing virtual environments 631


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host from which you want to start the VMware VirtualCenter
Console.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select System
Configuration > Launch VMware VirtualCenter Console.
The VMware VirtualCenter Console is started in a new window.

Launch VMware Infrastructure Client


You can launch the VMware Infrastructure Client to manage your VMware ESX
and VMware VirtualCenter hosts.

To launch the VMware Infrastructure Client, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host from which you want to start the VMware Infrastructure Client.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select System
Configuration > Launch VMware Infrastructure Client.
The VMware Infrastructure Client is started in a new window.

Launch Microsoft Virtual Server Console


You can launch the Microsoft Virtual Server Console to manage your Microsoft
Virtual Server hosts.

To launch the Microsoft Virtual Server Console, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director navigation pane, click Navigate Resources to
locate the host from which you want to start the Microsoft Virtual Server
Console.
2. Select the host, click Actions from the menu bar, and select System
Configuration > Launch Microsoft Virtual Server Console.
The Microsoft Virtual Server Console is started in a new window.

632 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Chapter 15. Security
IBM Systems Director offers a number of security features. With the provided
authentication and user administration options, system administrators can specify
user privileges for specific tasks and resources. User registry integration, integrity,
confidentiality, and secure sockets layer (SSL) supported secure data transmission
are other key elements of a basic security model.

IBM Systems Director is controlled by two interdependent processes: authentication


and authorization. Authentication is used to determine the identity of the user and
verify and validate that identity. Authorization checks the permissions of the
authenticated user and controls access to resources based on the roles that are
assigned to the user.

The IBM Systems Director Server uses a role-based access control (RBAC) service
with which an administrator can create custom sets of permissions, known as roles,
and assign them to individual users or groups. A set of task, command-line
interface (CLI), and application permissions that is applied to one or more
resources defines an authorization role. Each role can be applied to many users,
and each user can have many roles. Regulating user roles is an effective way to
control security for your system as it enables you to control access to every task
and CLI command.

Note: By default, the only user ID that is assigned to the SMAdministrator role
(the only one that can take any action right after installation) is the user ID that
was used to install IBM Systems Director. Even if you have other administrators
defined on the management server, a role is not assigned to them and they are
unable to administer IBM Systems Director. They will instead receive a message
telling them to contact their system administrator. To ensure that you are using the
correct user ID, before logging on to the IBM Systems Director Web interface,
ensure that you can use that same user ID and password to successfully log on to
the operating system on the management server.
Using the security features in IBM Systems Director, an administrator can perform
the following functions:
v Manage auditing
v View and manage authorized users and groups
v Assign roles and resources to users
v Manage user properties
v Create and modify roles
v Manage permissions that are grouped within a role
v Use roles to control access to a system
v Request access to a system
v Manage credentials and their associated mappings

To use IBM Systems Director to access or manage a system, the following steps are
taken:
1. A user authenticates to the IBM Systems Director Web interface using their user
ID and password, which are verified with the user ID and password stored in
the user registry that is configured by IBM Systems Director. The user registry
is configured by default on the local operating system, but it can also reside on

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 633


a domain controller, in an active directory, or on a Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol (LDAP) or OpenLDAP server. IBM Systems Director also finds
the user's group membership by associating their user ID with the user ID
contained in the group.
2. If the user ID and password that the user enters matches the user ID and
password stored in the registry on the target system, then the user is
authenticated to the target system.
3. When the user tries to perform a task, the authorization mechanism compares
their user ID or the group ID of the group to which they belong to the
associated role-based access control (RBAC) settings in IBM Systems Director. If
a role exists that contains the authorizations necessary for that task, then the
task is performed.
Related reference

Security and requesting access troubleshooting

Security requirements

Authenticating users to IBM Systems Director


Authentication is the process that IBM Systems Director uses to determine if the
identity claimed by a user, a system, or an application is correct. The process of
authenticating users involves a user registry and an authentication mechanism.
With user authentication, you can access and manage resources with the IBM
Systems Director Web interface.
Related tasks

Planning IBM Systems Director users and groups


Related reference

Security requirements

User authentication
User authentication is the security mechanism by which a user's credentials that
are used to access a system are verified. After authentication, a user can access the
system. However, to access a specific resource or perform a specific task, the user
must also have the appropriate authorization. Authentication prevents
unauthorized management servers or rogue managed-system applications from
accessing the resources.

To be authenticated, users are required to enter a user ID and password for the
system that they want to access. The authentication process uses the configured
user registry, which is from either the operating system, Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol (LDAP), or the domain controller.

The user accounts and groups that are created at the user registry level to log in to
a system are also used by IBM Systems Director. For example, to log in to IBM
Systems Director Web interface, a user must authenticate by logging in with a user
registry level account for the management server. To use IBM Systems Director
Web interface to access another system, the user must first have the appropriate
credentials to access that other system.

634 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related reference

Security requirements

Users and user groups in IBM Systems Director


In IBM Systems Director, users and user groups are based on users and groups
that are defined in the configured registry, which is associated with either the
operating system, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), or the domain
controller. IBM Systems Director uses the user and group information for
authentication and authorization.

IBM Systems Director does not provide the capability to create, update, or delete
users or groups in a user registry regardless of where the registry resides. To
manage users or groups in the user registry, you must instead use the appropriate
tool associated with the registry in which the users or groups are stored. IBM
Systems Director does, however, give you the ability to enter and edit information
for each user or group that describes each in the context of IBM Systems Director.

Access to particular resources or tasks is governed by restrictions based on the user


ID or user group membership and the roles that are defined for each user. For a
user to access IBM Systems Director Server, one of the following conditions must
exist:
v The user is a member of a user group that is authorized for IBM Systems
Director Server.
v The user has administrator privileges on the Windows management server or
Windows domain.
v The user is a root user on the AIX or Linux management server.

Users are specific to the systems on which they are created. Each system has its
own set of users that is independent of those on any other system in the network
or in accounts that are created in IBM Systems Director. The users are placed in
either predefined or user-created groups.

In a default IBM Systems Director Server installation scenario that uses the local
operating-system registry, the following IBM Systems Director user groups are
automatically created at the operating system level on the management server.

Note:
v The only role that is automatically assigned is to the administrator user ID that
installed IBM Systems Director. So, initially, no other user is associated with a
role. That IBM Systems Director administrator must then associate the other
users with roles.
v If you want to use Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or another
tool that the registry supports, you might need to manually create all of these
user groups and assign users to them.
smadmin (Administrator group)
Members of the smadmin group are authorized for all operations. They
have administrative access to IBM Systems Director and can perform all
administrative tasks. These members can define the privileges available to
the smmgr, smmon, smuser, and groupread groups. The privileges
available to members of the smadmin group cannot be restricted.

Note: At the operating system level, the smadmin group maps to


SMAdministrator role. A best practice is to add or remove users from the

Chapter 15. Security 635


user groups but to not delete the system-defined user groups because IBM
Systems Director uses them in the IBM Systems Director Web interface to
authorize users to IBM Systems Director.

Important: If you add a user to this group, the user can modify or delete
all system-level resources and resources for all other users, including
operating-system and user files and processes. Before assigning a user to
this group, be sure that the user requires SMAdministrator authority.
smmgr (Manager group)
Members of the smmgr group can perform management operations, which
are a subset of the functions that a member of the smadmin group can
perform.
smmon (Monitor group)
Members of the smmon group can access those administrative functions
that provide read-only access, such as monitoring.
smuser (User group)
The smuser group includes all authenticated users. Members can perform
only basic operations.

You can also use the smcli authusergp command to authorize additional user
groups to access IBM Systems Director. These user groups are granted various
levels of authority in the form of privileges and tasks and resource access.
Related tasks

Planning IBM Systems Director users and groups


Related reference

authusergp

Authenticating IBM Systems Director users stored in the local


operating system
IBM Systems Director can authenticate user login requests to the registry for the
configured operating system. The local operating-system user registry is the one
that IBM Systems Director uses by default.

To create a local operating-system user account that has access to IBM Systems
Director Server, complete the following steps:
1. Create a user account in the user registry that is associated with the
management server. For instructions about creating a user account in the user
registry that is associated with the management server, see the documentation
for that management server.
2. Add the user as a member of one of the user groups defined for IBM Systems
Director at the user registry level. You can either use one of the predefined
groups or create your own.

Note: If you create a new custom group on the IBM Systems Director Server,
you will have to authorize it. To do so, log in to the IBM Systems Director Web
interface as an administrator and navigate to Security > Users > Authorize
Groups.... Enter the local group name in the wizard to authorize the new
group. You can also authorize the group from the command-line interface using
smcli authusergp.

636 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


3. Log in to IBM Systems Director Web interface as an administrator and navigate
to Security > Users. The users that you configured in the previous steps will be
displayed in the list.

After users are authenticated to IBM Systems Director, you can configure the
authorizations for each user to IBM Systems Director tasks and resources.

Managing SSL encryption for CIM


Encryption is enabled by default using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for Common
Information Model (CIM). Use the following procedure to disable or enable SSL for
CIM.
1. Run this command to get the current value of enableHttpsConnection:
cimconfig -g enableHttpsConnection

The current value of the enableHttpsConnection setting displays. If the current


value is true, SSL is enabled. If the current value is false, SSL is disabled.
2. If you want to disable SSL, run this command:
cimconfig -s enableHttpsConnection=false -p
3. If you want to enable SSL, run this command:
cimconfig -s enableHttpsConnection=true -p
4. Run this command to restart the CIM server:
/etc/init.d/cimserverd restart

The new SSL encryption setting takes effect once the server restarts.

Authenticating IBM Systems Director users stored in the


Microsoft Active Directory domain
IBM Systems Director can authenticate user login requests to a domain server.

To create a Microsoft Active Directory user account that has access to IBM Systems
Director Server, complete the following steps:
1. Create a user account in the Active Directory user registry. For instructions
about creating a user account in the domain server user registry, see the Active
Directory documentation.
2. Add the Active Directory user to a defined Active Directory global security
group. You will have to create your own Active Directory group if a suitable
one does not exist.
3. Add the global group to an authorized local group of the IBM Systems Director
Server, such as, smadmin, smmgr, smmon, or smuser.
Notes:
v Nested global groups are not supported in IBM Systems Director.
v Alternatively, you can create a custom local group. If you create a new
custom local group on the IBM Systems Director Server, you will have to
authorize it. To do so, log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface as an
administrator and navigate to Security > Users > Authorize Groups.... Enter
the local group name in the wizard to authorize the new group. You can also
authorize the group from the command-line interface using smcli
authusergp.
v If you want to authorize a domain group directly without adding it to the
local group, log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface as an
administrator and navigate to Security > Users > Authorize Groups.... Enter
the domain group name in the wizard to authorize the new group. Ensure

Chapter 15. Security 637


you include the domain name with the group name (<domainName>\
<groupName>) in NetBios style. Domain names and group names are
case-sensitive. You can also authorize the group from the command-line
interface using smcli authusergp.
v IBM Systems Director works best with Active Directory when its users are
placed in global groups and then those global groups are placed within the
local groups of the IBM Systems Director Server (such as smadmin, smmgr,
smmon, smuser, or a custom local group that you authorize.
v For best practices, do not add Active Directory users directly to the local
groups of any IBM Systems Director Servers.
4. Log in to IBM Systems Director Web interface as an administrator and navigate
to Security > Users. Active Directory users that are managed as a group will
not appear in the list. However, you should see the group listed. Users that are
local to the IBM Systems Director Server will show up on this list as they are
managed as individuals.

You can now assign additional roles to users to access specific IBM Systems
Director tasks and resources.

Authenticating IBM Systems Director users stored in LDAP


IBM Systems Director can authenticate user login requests to a Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server.

LDAP is an open protocol that uses TCP/IP to provide access to directories that
support an X.500 model. Managing your user information with LDAP instead of
the local operating system is particularly useful when you have many users who
will operate IBM Systems Director. For IBM Systems Director user authentication,
LDAP has a number of advantages:
v Many companies already have existing LDAP directories of employees that can
be used for IBM Systems Director user authentication. These existing directories
save the time and effort required to create new user accounts on the
management server.
v An administrator can immediately modify or terminate a user's access on all
instances of IBM Systems Director Server by changing the user's LDAP group
memberships or by removing the user's LDAP entry.
v Users need only one user ID and password, as opposed to multiple accounts for
each management server.

To create an LDAP user account that has access to IBM Systems Director Server,
complete the following steps:
1. Create a user account in the LDAP user registry. For instructions about creating
a user account in the LDAP user registry, see the documentation for your
LDAP server.
2. Create the following user groups in the LDAP user registry to match the
groups that are predefined in IBM Systems Director:
v smadmin
v smmgr
v smmon
v smuser

Note: If this is an Active Directory (AD) LDAP user registry and IBM Systems
Director is installed on a Linux system that uses the AD LDAP registry, make

638 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


sure these groups are created as local groups instead of default global groups.
Nested global groups are not supported in Active Directory. At least one global
group (for example, Domain Users) will need to be assigned to the user before
this can be done. If this is not done, you might see an "Unknown" user error
message and your access to the IBM Systems Director Web interface might be
denied.
3. Add the user as a member of one of the user groups defined for IBM Systems
Director at the user registry level. You can either use one of the predefined
groups or create your own.

Note: If you create a new custom group on the IBM Systems Director Server,
you will have to authorize it. To do so, log in to the IBM Systems Director Web
interface as an administrator and navigate to Security > Users > Authorize
Groups.... Enter the local group name in the wizard to authorize the new
group. You can also authorize the group from the command-line interface using
smcli authusergp.
4. Rename the <director_install>/lwi/conf/overrides/security.ldap template
properties file to <director_install>/lwi/conf/overrides/
securityLDAP.properties, where <director_install> is the IBM Systems
Director installation directory.

Note: Ensure that the file permissions for the newly renamed
securityLDAP.properties are correct. If not, change the permissions for the file
as necessary to reflect the intended permissions.
5. Open the securityLDAP.properties file in an editor and complete the following
edits:
v Modify the contents of this file to include the following LDAP configuration
properties:
Table 55. Configuration properties in the securityLDAP.properties file
Property Description
com.ibm.lwi.LDAPHost = 9.10.11.12 The host name of LDAP server
com.ibm.lwi.LDAPPort = 389 The listening port defined on the LDAP server.
com.ibm.lwi.LDAPBase = dc=ibm,dc=com The base (root) distinguish name defined on the LDAP
server.
com.ibm.lwi.LDAPAdminUser = CN=IBM Director Service The administrator username defined on the LDAP server.
Account,CN=Users,DC=systemx,DC=sc,DC=ibm,DC=com This property is not required if the LDAP server is
enabled for anonymous login.
com.ibm.lwi.LDAPAdminPassword = DSADSADS <encrypted> The encrypted password of the administrator defined on
the LDAP server. This property is not required if the
LDAP server is enabled for anonymous login. After
setting the com.ibm.lwi.LDAPAdminPassword property, you
need to encode the password by running the
lwiencoder.sh -filename <your_config_file>.properties
-keylist com.ibm.lwi.LDAPAdminPassword command
from the /opt/ibm/director/lwi/bin directory.
com.ibm.lwi.searchfilter = (&(uid= The user search filter to use on the LDAP server.
%v)(objectclass=inetOrgPerson))
com.ibm.lwi.rolemanager.ldap.filters.usergroup = The filter string (LDAP) used to search directory for
(|(objectclass=groupOfNames) groups objects.
(objectclass=groupOfUniqueNames))
com.ibm.lwi.rolemanager.ldap.filters.users = The filter string (LDAP) used to search directory for
(objectclass=inetOrgPerson) users objects.

Chapter 15. Security 639


Table 55. Configuration properties in the securityLDAP.properties file (continued)
Property Description
com.ibm.lwi.rolemanager.ldap.names.memberAttribute = The name of the member attribute of the role object in
member the directory. If there is more then one property value,
separate the values using commas.
com.ibm.lwi.rolemanager.ldap.names.loginName = uid The name of the login name attribute of the user in the
directory.
com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.enable = true Enable or disable LDAP SSL communication. If this
property is set to true, all "com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.*"
properties must be set.
com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.keyStore The client keystore file path. The path should be relative
to the current LWI working directory
(<LWI_Dir>/runtime/core). For example,
/../../security/keystore/clientKeyStore.jks. This property
must be set if the com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.enable property is
set to true.
com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.keyStorePassword The password of the keystore. The password must be
encrypted. After setting the property, use the lwiencoder
command located in the <LWI_Dir>/bin directory to
encode the password. This property must be set if the
com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.enable property is set to true.
com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.trustStore The client truststore file path. The path should be relative
to the current LWI working directory
(<LWI_Dir>/runtime/core). For example,
/../../security/keystore/clientTrustStore.jks. This
property must be set if the com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.enable
property is set to true.
com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.trustStorePassword The password of the truststore. After setting the property,
use the lwiencoder command located in the
<LWI_Dir>/bin directory to encode the password. This
property must be set if the com.ibm.lwi.ldap.ssl.enable
property is set to true.

com.ibm.lwi.rolemanager.ldap.attributes.user.telephoneOptional. The telephone attribute of the user.


com.ibm.lwi.rolemanager.ldap.attributes.user.mobile Optional. The mobile phone attribute of the user.
com.ibm.lwi.rolemanager.ldap.attributes.user.pager Optional. The pager attribute of the user.

v Remove the security.properties file and any other security-related .properties


files.
6. Restart IBM Systems Director.
7. Alternatively, you can create a custom local group. If you create a new custom
local group on the IBM Systems Director Server, you will have to authorize it.
To do so, log in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface as an administrator
and navigate to Security > Users > Authorize Groups.... Enter the local group
name in the wizard to authorize the new group. You can also authorize the
group from the command-line interface using smcli authusergp.

After users are authenticated to IBM Systems Director, you can configure the
authorizations for each user to IBM Systems Director tasks and resources.

640 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related tasks

Restarting IBM Systems Director Server

Editing user properties


IBM Systems Director does not provide the capability to create, update, or delete
users or groups in a user registry regardless of where the registry resides. To
manage users or groups in the user registry, you must instead use the appropriate
tool associated with the registry in which the users or groups are stored. IBM
Systems Director does, however, give you the ability to enter and edit information
for each user or group that describes each in the context of IBM Systems Director.

To edit the properties that IBM Systems Director associates with each user or
group, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Users.
2. Select the user or group that you want to edit.
3. Click Edit. The properties page is displayed.
4. Click Edit. The Edit Properties window is displayed.
5. Modify the properties as wanted.
6. Click OK.

Authorizing users to IBM Systems Director


Authorization is the process that determines whether an authenticated user or
group has the necessary privileges to access specific resources. With user
authorization, IBM Systems Director users can perform tasks on specific resources
by using IBM Systems Director Web interface. You must use IBM Systems Director
to configure the authorizations that provide access to IBM Systems Director tasks
and resources.

Using IBM Systems Director, you can create and manage the roles that control
authorization for IBM Systems Director users.
Related reference

Security requirements

User authorization
User authorization occurs when an authenticated user uses IBM Systems Director
to perform a task on a resource. The authorization mechanism compares the user
account, or the group to which the user belongs, to the role-based access control
(RBAC) settings for that user or group. If a role exists that contains the
authorizations necessary to complete that task on that specified resource, then the
task proceeds.

Users can access only the applications, tasks, and resources that their user accounts
are authorized to access. The authorities that you grant to a user determine the
console and resource information that the user can access, and the tasks that the
user can perform on those resources.

The authorization process that IBM Systems Director performs when accessing a
resource is independent of the authentication that is required to access that
resource. For example, a user might be able to authenticate to and therefore access

Chapter 15. Security 641


IBM Systems Director Web interface or another resource by using IBM Systems
Director Web interface, but to perform a task on that resource, both the task and
the resource must be authorized in the role settings that are assigned to that user
or the authorization group to which the user belongs.

After a user account is added to the applicable IBM Systems Director group to
provide access to IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can log in to IBM
Systems Director Web interface as an administrator and configure the authorization
policies and rules for IBM Systems Director tasks and resources for that user.
Related reference

Security requirements

Roles
You can assign roles to IBM Systems Director users to control their access to
resources and limit the tasks that they can perform on those resources. The
authorities that you configure for a role determine the level of access granted to
each user who is assigned to that role. All users or groups of users that access IBM
Systems Director must have a user role assignment.

The IBM Systems Director Server uses a role-based access control (RBAC) service
with which an administrator can create custom sets of permissions, known as roles,
and assign them to individual users or groups. A set of task, command-line
interface (CLI), and application permissions that is applied to one or more
resources defines an authorization role. Each role can be applied to many users,
and each user can have many roles. Regulating user roles is an effective way to
control security for your system as it enables you to control access to every task
and CLI command.

Note: By default, the only user ID that is assigned to the SMAdministrator role
(the only one that can take any action right after installation) is the user ID that
was used to install IBM Systems Director. Even if you have other administrators
defined on the management server, a role is not assigned to them and they are
unable to administer IBM Systems Director. They will instead receive a message
telling them to contact their system administrator. To ensure that you are using the
correct user ID, before logging on to the IBM Systems Director Web interface,
ensure that you can use that same user ID and password to successfully log on to
the operating system on the management server.

To allow users access to the IBM Systems Director Web interface, each user must
be assigned to a role. These user roles define the types of tasks that users or
groups can perform. To be assigned to a role, each user or group of users must
have a valid user ID or group ID in the user registry on the management server.
Both individual users and a group of users can be assigned to a role. All users in a
group are assigned the role of the group. If a user is assigned to one role as an
individual and a different role as a member of a group, the user has access to the
functions of the role that has greater access.

Role-based access control is functionality that was not available in versions of IBM
Systems Director prior to 6.1. In those versions, you could only edit the access
levels on each individual user or group, or you could modify the default access.
IBM Systems Director 6.1 and later provide reusable roles that you can assign more
than once and use to build other roles. IBM Systems Director 6.1 and 6.2 also
provide instance-based authorization. This gives you the ability to define, at a
more granular level than before, which tasks apply to which groups in a system.

642 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


The following system-defined user roles are preconfigured in IBM Systems
Director.

Note: The hierarchical order of the roles in this list is such that the
SMAdministrator role has the highest authority and the SMUser role has the
lowest authority. Roles with higher authority are permitted to run all operations
that roles with lower authority are permitted to run. For example, if the execution
of an operation is permitted for SMUser, then all the other roles with higher
privileges are also permitted to run the operation.
SMAdministrator (Administrator role)
The SMAdministrator role has full authority to perform all tasks and
functions, and has full control over permissions. A user assigned to this
role can perform all tasks (including security administration, product
installation, and configuration) with any resource.

Important: If you assign this role to a user, the user can modify or delete
all system-level resources and resources for all other users, including
operating-system and user files and processes. Before assigning this role to
a user, be sure that the user requires this level of authority.
SMManager (Manager role)
The SMManager role can perform management operations, which are a
subset of the functions that a member of the SMAdministrator role can
perform. Typically, system administration, system health management, and
system configuration tasks are available. This role cannot perform security
administration or security configuration tasks, but it has full access to all of
the IBM Systems Director functions included within a functional manager
or feature. The list of accessible functions include those within the status
manager and update manager.
SMMonitor (Monitor role)
The SMMonitor role can access those administrative functions that provide
read-only access, such as monitoring, notification, and status. With this
role, a user can complete such tasks as monitoring a process, viewing and
collecting inventory, and viewing hardware status. This role cannot, for
example, create virtual servers or reconfigure the IBM BladeCenter.
SMUser (User role)
The SMUser role includes any authenticated user and includes the ability
to perform only basic operations such as viewing resources and properties.
GroupRead (Group role)
The GroupRead role has a single permission, known as group read, that
defines the groups that are visible to each user. The administrator that
assigns this role to a user can assign the groups that the user can view. The
user then has access to see the groups but not necessarily to see the group
contents. For example, in a dynamic group, the visibility to users can vary
based on the assignments to which a user has read-only access.

These default user roles correspond directly with the groups that IBM Systems
Director installs at the operating system level. You cannot delete these roles, nor
can you modify the permissions associated with them. However, you can add
users and other groups to the system defined roles as needed, and you also can
copy the system defined roles or create new ones for your business needs.

For information on viewing and editing the tasks available to each role, see
“Managing roles” on page 650. Tasks that require a role with greater permissions

Chapter 15. Security 643


than those of the role that you have will not appear in the IBM Systems Director
Web interface navigation area or on any of the pages.

Permissions and roles required to run smcli commands


A user ID must be authorized with certain permissions and roles to run the smcli
commands.

Note: A user ID must have the AllPermission permission to run supported IBM
Director V5.20 commands.

System commands
Command Required permission Predefined role
accesssys SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
chsys GeneralPermission SMAdministrator
lssys GeneralPermission SMUser
pingsys GeneralPermission SMAdministrator
rmsys GeneralPermission SMAdministrator
rpower PowerOnOffPermission SMAdministrator

Group commands
Command Required permission Predefined role
chgp GeneralPermission SMManager
lsgp GeneralPermission SMUser
mkgp GeneralPermission SMManager
rmgp GeneralPermission SMManager

Discovery and inventory commands


Command Required permission Predefined role
collectinv InventoryPermission SMAdministrator
discover InventoryPermission SMAdministrator
lsinv InventoryPermission SMMonitor

Configuration plan and template commands


Command Required permission Predefined role
lscfgplan SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
lscfgtmpl SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
mkcfgplan SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
mkcfgtmpl SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
rmcfgplan SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
rmcfgtmpl SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager

644 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Status commands
Command Required permission Predefined role
chled SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
lsled SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
lsstatus SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor

Resource monitor commands


Command Required permission Predefined role
chresmonthresh SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
lsresmon SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
lsresmonrec SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
lsresmonthresh SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
mkresmonrec SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
mkresmonthresh SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
rmresmonrec SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
rmresmonthresh SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
runresmon SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
stopresmonrec SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager

Process monitor commands


Command Required permission Predefined role
lsps SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
mkpmtask SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
rmpmtask SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager

Event automation plan and event commands


Command Required permission Predefined role
chevtautopln AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
evtacthist AutomationPermission SMManager
evtautopln AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
evtlog AutomationPermission SMManager
lsevtact AutomationPermission SMMonitor
lsevtacthist AutomationPermission SMMonitor
lsevtautopln AutomationPermission SMMonitor
lsevtfltr AutomationPermission SMMonitor
lsevtlog AutomationPermission SMMonitor
lsevttype AutomationPermission SMMonitor
mkevtactemail AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
mkevtactstpgm AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
mkevtactsttask AutomationPermission SMAdministrator

Chapter 15. Security 645


Command Required permission Predefined role
mkevtautopln AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
rmevtact AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
rmevtautopln AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
rmevtfltr AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
rmevtlog AutomationPermission SMAdministrator
testevtact AutomationPermission SMAdministrator

Task and scheduled job commands


Command Required permission Predefined role
lsjob TaskManagementPermission SMUser
lsjobhistory TaskManagementPermission SMUser
lstask TaskManagementPermission SMUser
rmjob TaskManagementPermission SMAdministrator
rmjobhistory TaskManagementPermission SMAdministrator
runjob TaskManagementPermission SMUser
runtask TaskManagementPermission SMUser

Update commands
Command Required permission Predefined role
checkupd ReleaseManagementPermission SMMonitor
cleanupd ReleaseManagementPermission SMManager
importupd ReleaseManagementPermission SMManager
installupd ReleaseManagementPermission SMManager
lsupd ReleaseManagementPermission SMMonitor
uninstallupd ReleaseManagementPermission SMManager

Security commands
Command Required permission Predefined role
authusergp SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
chrole SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
chuser SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
chusergp SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
lsperm SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
lsrole SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
lsuser SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
lsusergp SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
mkrole SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
rmrole SecurityPermission SMAdministrator
rmusergp SecurityPermission SMAdministrator

646 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


SNMP devices
Command Required permission Predefined role
get SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
getbulk SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
getnext SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor
inform SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
set SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
trap SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMManager
walk SystemStatusAndHealthPermission SMMonitor

Storage commands
Command Required permission Predefined role
chnshost SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
chnssys SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
chnspath SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
chnsvol SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
lsnshost SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
lsnspath SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
lsnssys SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
lsnsvol SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
mknspath SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
mknsvol SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
rmnspath SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager
rmnsvol SystemConfigurationPermission SMManager

Virtualization commands
Command Required permission Predefined role
chvrtauth SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator
chvrthost SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator
chvs SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator
chvsmauth SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator
chvsmhost SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator
chvsmvs SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator
lsvrtsys SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
lsvsm SystemConfigurationPermission SMMonitor
mkvs SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator
mkvsmvs SystemConfigurationPermission SMAdministrator

Chapter 15. Security 647


Authorizing users to manage resources
To log in to IBM Systems Director Web interface and manage the resources that are
discovered by IBM Systems Director, a user must have a user account that is
associated with a role that has the appropriate authority.

The following steps are required to authorize an IBM Systems Director user to
manage resources:
1. If the user account that is needed does not exist, create it on the operating
system of the system that you want to manage or on the Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol (LDAP) server.
2. Log in to IBM Systems Director as a SMAdministrator.
3. Assign an appropriate role to the user account or group to which the user
account belongs and associate it with the resources that you want the account
to manage. You can use any of the existing initial role groups (smadmin,
smmgr, smmon, smuser) or you can create a role that includes the privileges
necessary to access the appropriate resource.

Note: Assigning a role other than smadmin, which is done with the operating
system, occurs within IBM Systems Director Web interface.

Assigning a role to a user or user group


The roles that are assigned to a user or user group determine the tasks that the
user has permission to access. From the Users page, you can assign one or more
roles to a user or user group. When you assign a role, you also associate specific
resources to which the role will apply for the selected user.

Before you can assign a role to a user, each user or group of users must have a
valid user ID or group ID in the local operating-system user registry on the
management server. Also, you must make sure that the role that you want to
assign to a user already exists. If it does not, you can create a new role from the
Roles page.

If you want to associate a role and user with only one resource group, you can
create a group that contains all the resources that you will assign to a specific user
and then pick that group when you work with the Assign Role wizard.

To assign a role to a user or group, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Users.
2. Select the user or group to which you want to assign a role.
3. Click Assign Role. The Welcome page for the Assign Role wizard opens.
4. Click Next. The wizard lists the roles that have been created.
5. Select the role that you want to assign.
6. Click Next.
7. Select the resource groups that you want to associate with the role and the user.

Note: The user will have access to all the resources contained in the selected
groups, even if any resources are also contained in other groups that are not
selected.
8. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
9. Click Finish.

648 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Copying a role to another user
The roles that are created in IBM Systems Director to control access to tasks and
resources can be applied to one or more users or groups. Use the Users page to
copy the task and resource assignments in an existing role from one user or group
to another user or group.

When you copy a role from one user to another, the task and resource assignments
in an existing role are copied and assigned to the new user in one step. As a result,
both the task permissions and the associated resources for the selected user are
copied to the new user.

Note: The Copy Role to User... action does not result in the creation of a new role
that matches the selected role. Instead, the task and resource assignments in the
selected role are copied to the user or group. In other words, it is the task and
resource assignments in the selected role, not the role itself, that are copied to the
user or group. If you instead want to copy a role, you can do so using the Roles
page.

To copy a role to another user, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Users.
2. On the Users page, select the user that has the role that you want to copy, and
then click Copy Role to User.... The Copy Role to User page opens.
3. In the Copy to list, select the user to whom you want to copy the role.
4. In the Roles list box, select the roles that you want to copy.

Note: Both the task permissions and the associated resources for the selected
user are copied to the new user.
5. Click OK.

Creating a role
With the Roles page, you can create new roles on your system.

IBM Systems Director Server uses a role-based access control (RBAC) service with
which an administrator can create a set of task permissions that can be applied to
one or more resources. The permissions that are configured for a role determine
the resources that a user can access and what tasks the user can perform on those
resources. Each role can be applied to many users or groups, and each user can
have many roles.

To create a role, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Roles.
2. On the Roles page, click Create. The Create Role wizard Welcome page is
displayed.
3. Click Next. The Name page is displayed.
4. In the Name field, type a name for the role that you want to create.
5. In the Description field, type an optional brief description for the role.
6. Click Next. The Permissions page is displayed.
7. In the Available permissions field, select a permission that you want to add
to the user role and then click Add. The selected permission is added to the

Chapter 15. Security 649


Selected permissions field. Continue adding permissions until you have
identified all permissions required for the role.

Note: The permissions are ordered and grouped under specific categories,
such as inventory and security, and subcategories within those categories.
Under each category, the permissions are sorted alphabetically by permission
type. The task permissions are first, followed by the cli permissions. The
different types of permissions are designated by different icons. You can either
select a category or subcategory name, which adds all the contained
permissions, or you can drill down to select and add an individual
permission.
8. To remove a permission from the role, select a permission in the Selected
permissions field and then click Remove. The selected permission is added
back to the Available permissions field.
9. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
10. Click Finish.

After you create a role, use the Assign Role wizard on the Users page to create role
and resource assignments for your users.

Managing roles
Use IBM Systems Director to work with roles and assign individual users and user
groups to those roles. From the Roles page, you can view, copy, edit, or delete a
role.

To view, copy, edit, or delete a role, the role must already exist. You can also use
this page to create a new role that you can then manage. See “Creating a role” for
instructions.

To view, copy, edit, or delete a role, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Roles.
2. On the Roles page, select one of the following actions.
Table 56. Role actions
To do this task: Complete these steps:
View details about an existing role 1. Select the role that you want to view.
2. Click View. The View page is displayed.
3. View the following details about the role:
v Name
v Description
v Permissions
4. Click OK.
Note: When you view a role, you will see
one of two icons that designate the type of
permissions that the role has. One icon
indicates that the role applies to tasks in the
IBM Systems Director Web interface, and the
other indicates that it applies to cli
commands.

650 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Table 56. Role actions (continued)
To do this task: Complete these steps:
Copy an existing role 1. Select the role that you want to copy.
2. Click Create like. The Create Role Like
wizard is displayed. The role name
defaults to Copy of (original role name),
but the rest of the fields are populated
with the same entries and selections as is
in the original role.
3. Edit the fields as needed.
4. Click Finish. The new role based on the
original role will appear in the table on
the Roles page.
Edit an existing role Note: You cannot edit the roles that are
shipped with IBM Systems Director, which
are designated by the type of System
Defined.
1. Select the role that you want to edit.
2. Click Edit. The Create Role wizard is
displayed but with the fields already
filled out. You can select only certain
fields to edit.
3. Edit the role properties as needed,
clicking Next to continue through the
wizard.
4. Click Finish.
Delete an existing role Note: You cannot delete the roles that are
shipped with IBM Systems Director, which
are designated by the type of System
Defined.
1. Select the role that you want to delete.
2. Click Delete. A confirmation message is
displayed.
3. Click Delete in the confirmation message
box to confirm the deletion or click
Cancel to retain the selected role. The
selected role is deleted and is no longer
displayed in the table on the Roles page.

Ending the session for another user


You can choose to end the session for another active user if you have sufficient
authority to do so.

To end the session of another active user:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Users.
2. Right-click the user for whom the session is to be ended.
3. Click End Session. The End Session confirmation dialog is displayed. If the
user is logged in more than once, the list of sessions is displayed; select which
session to end. You can select multiple sessions.
4. In the End Session confirmation dialog, click End Session. The selected user is
logged out and must log in again.

Chapter 15. Security 651


Managing user groups in IBM Systems Director
Use IBM Systems Director to manage user group access to the IBM Systems
Director Server. Authorization for existing user groups can be added or removed.

Authorizing IBM Systems Director user groups


IBM Systems Director can authorize user groups to access the IBM Systems
Director Server.

To authorize an existing user group to the IBM Systems Director Server, complete
the following steps:
1. Log in to IBM Systems Director Web interface as an administrator and navigate
to Security > Users. Authorized user groups are displayed in the list.
2. To authorize another user group, click Authorize Groups. The Authorize User
Groups wizard opens.
3. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The User Groups page is
displayed.
4. Select or type the user groups that you want to authorize. You can select
multiple user groups from the list, type user group names in the User groups
field, or both.

Tip: A maximum of 10 user group names are displayed in the list. If user
groups are not listed, type the names in User groups. Separate the names by
commas.
5. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
6. Click Finish to authorize the specified user groups.

After user groups are authorized to the IBM Systems Director Server, you can
assign roles and users to them.
Related reference

authusergp

Removing IBM Systems Director user group authorization


IBM Systems Director can remove user-group access to the IBM Systems Director
Server.

To remove a user group's access to the IBM Systems Director Server, complete the
following steps:
1. Log in to IBM Systems Director Web interface as an administrator and navigate
to Security > Users. Existing user groups are displayed in the list.
2. In the table, select the user group that you want to remove.

Note: The following user groups cannot be removed: smadmin, smmgr,


smmon, and smuser.
3. Click Remove Group Authorization or right-click the group name and select
Remove Group Authorization. A confirmation message is displayed.
4. Click OK to remove the user group's access to the IBM Systems Director Server.

Users assigned to the selected user group can no longer access the IBM Systems
Director Server. This action does not delete the user group; it only removes the
group's authorization.

652 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Related reference

rmusergp

Managing credentials in IBM Systems Director


To enable single sign-on (SSO), IBM Systems Director supports mechanisms to
manage various forms of credentials.

See “Managing credentials in IBM Systems Director.”

Managing credentials in IBM Systems Director


IBM Systems Director uses credentials to implement single sign-on authentication.
Various forms of credentials are supported.

Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication process in which a user can access more
than one system or application by entering a single user ID and password. It is
used to automate access to multiple resources by requiring a user to authenticate
only once. To implement single sign-on authentication, the IBM Systems Director
Server maps IBM Systems Director Web interface user credentials to the user
credentials needed for authenticating to the target managed system. These
credentials are saved in registries, which enables Web interface users who are
managing remote systems over various security domains or realms to authenticate
to and manage these remote systems and the resources hosted on them.

When credentials are configured in IBM Systems Director, users are not required to
type the user ID and password for the target system or resource each time that
they or a task access it. IBM Systems Director Server automatically logs in as
needed by retrieving the necessary credentials. You can view those systems for
which users do not automatically have access on the IBM Systems Director Web
interface Welcome page.

With IBM Systems Director, you can manage shared and targeted credentials:
Shared credentials
Shared credentials are those credentials that exist in an authentication
registry that is not specific to an access point. This enables the credentials
to be reused to access multiple console access points and systems. These
credentials must be of type user ID/password. After the credentials are
configured, the IBM Systems Director Server can use them to authenticate
to user interfaces and advanced system-management functions that are
hosted on the selected system.
Shared credentials are created on the local operating system, the domain
controller, or LDAP, and are then mapped to other credentials if necessary.
In IBM Systems Director, use the following pages to manage shared
credentials:
v To manually manage shared credentials and credential mappings for a
target managed system that you choose, use Security > Credentials.
v To manage single sign-on shared credentials from the selected system,
use Navigate Resources > All systems > (right-click a system) >
Security > Configure Single Sign-On Credentials.
Targeted credentials
Targeted credentials are each assigned to only one remote-service agent
access point and are located in an authentication registry that is specific to

Chapter 15. Security 653


that access point. These credentials cannot be reused to access other agent
access points. After the credentials are configured, the IBM Systems
Director Server can use them to manage the selected system.
In IBM Systems Director, use the following pages to manage targeted
credentials:
v To access general system-management capabilities for the selected
system, use Navigate Resources > All systems > (right-click a system)
> Security > Configure Access.
v To access advanced system-management capabilities for the selected
system, use Navigate Resources > All systems > (right-click a system)
> Security > Configure System Credentials.
Related reference

Security requirements

Managing shared credentials


Use IBM Systems Director to configure the shared credentials that are used to log
in to and manage console access points that are hosted on a managed system.

Shared credentials are those credentials that exist in an authentication registry that
is not specific to an access point. This enables the credentials to be reused to access
multiple console access points. These credentials must be of type user
ID/password. After the credentials are configured, the IBM Systems Director
Server can use them to launch user interfaces that are hosted on the selected
system.

Shared credentials are created on the local operating system, the domain controller,
or LDAP, and are then mapped to other credentials if necessary. To manage shared
credentials and credential mappings, use Security > Credentials. The Credential
wizard enables you to choose the target system for which to create the credentials.

Alternatively, you can configure single sign-on shared credentials for a selected
system by using the Create and Edit Single Sign-On Credentials wizard. See
“Managing single sign-on credentials.”

Creating shared credentials


Use the Credentials page to create shared credentials for a target managed system
that you specify in the Credential wizard.

To create a set of shared user ID / password credentials for a console access point
on a target system, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Credentials.
2. On the Credentials page, click Create. The Credential wizard opens.
3. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Credential Details page is
displayed.
4. From the Authentication Registry Type list, select the type of authentication
registry that you want to create. The three authentication registry types are as
follows:
Local OS
Authenticates user login requests with the local operating system of the
target system. The target system must have a corresponding user
account in the operating-system registry.

654 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


LDAP Authenticates user login requests with a Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) server. Ensure that the LDAP server is configured in
your environment and available to the target system.
Domain
Authenticates user login requests with a specific domain server. Ensure
that the domain server is configured in your environment and available
to the target system.
5. From the Target system list, select the name of the target system. If your target
system does not appear in the list, click Browse to search for it.
6. Enter the appropriate user ID and password for the system. If you are creating
a credential for a resource that has defined a specific user ID that must be used
when authenticating, you cannot change the value in the User ID field.
7. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
8. Click Finish. The credentials are automatically used to authenticate to the
specified system.

For information about how to map a user's credentials in one user registry to
another user's credentials in another user registry, see “Managing mappings.”

Learn more about targets that define specific user IDs


For some systems, a specific user ID is required to access the system. When the
system requires the use of a specified user ID, the user ID fields on the Request
Access page are fixed. You cannot change the user ID. Instead, you must enter the
password for that user ID.

Editing shared credentials


Use the Credentials page to edit shared credentials.

With IBM Systems Director, you can edit existing shared credentials

To edit a set of shared user ID / password credentials, complete the following


steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Credentials.
2. On the Credentials page, select the shared credential that you want to edit.
3. Click Edit. The Edit Credential wizard opens.
4. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Credential Details page is
displayed.
5. Change the details that are available for changing and verify the password for
the credential.
6. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
7. Click Finish.

For information about how to map a user's credentials in one user registry to
another user's credentials in another user registry, see “Managing mappings.”

Deleting shared credentials


Use the Credentials page to delete shared credentials that are no longer needed.

If you have created any automated tasks in IBM Systems Director, ensure that you
check the systems that are the targets of those tasks and the credentials that are
used to log in to those systems. Some tasks might be configured to use a set of

Chapter 15. Security 655


credentials to accomplish the procedures in the task. Deleting the set of credentials
that are used by one of these automated tasks will prevent the task from accessing
targeted systems that are secured.

Note: You will not receive a warning when deleting a credential that is associated
with an automated tasks, and the task will no longer be able to access the system.

To delete a set of shared credentials, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Credentials.
2. On the Credentials page, select the credentials that you want to delete.
3. Click Delete. A confirmation message is displayed.
4. Click OK.

Managing single sign-on credentials


Use IBM Systems Director to manage single sign-on shared credentials for the
selected system. These credentials are mapped from specific user credentials on
that system to IBM Systems Director Web interface users.

Ensure that you have the correct authorization to access the resource and its access
points.

Like other shared credentials, single sign-on credentials are those credentials that
exist in an authentication registry that is not specific to an access point. This
enables the credentials to be reused to access multiple console access points and
systems. These credentials must be of type user ID/password. After the credentials
are configured, the IBM Systems Director Server can use them to launch user
interfaces that are hosted on the selected system.

Creating single sign-on credentials:

Use the Create and Edit Single Sign-On Credentials wizard to create single sign-on
shared credentials for the selected system.

Single sign-on credentials map user credentials on the selected system to specified
IBM Systems Director Web interface users. To create a single sign-on credential for
a console access point on the selected system, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Single Sign-On Credentials. The
Configure Single Sign-On Credentials page is displayed.
3. Click a remote-service console access point. The credentials associated with
that access point are listed.
4. Click Create. The Create and Edit Single Sign-On Credentials wizard is
displayed.

Notes:
v If the Create button is disabled, all credential mappings that you have the
authority to create have been created for the configured authentication
registry on the selected system. A credential mapping can be created only
for those Web interface users who have logged in to IBM Systems Director
at least once. Existing credential mappings can still be edited or deleted.
v If the Create button is unavailable, the selected console access point is on
the IBM Systems Director Server. Single sign-on credentials for these access

656 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


points can only be displayed. You cannot create or edit these credentials
because they are automatically created when Web interface users log in to
IBM Systems Director.
5. From the Authentication Registry Type list, select the type of authentication
registry that you want to create.

Note: If an authentication registry has already been configured for the


selected console access point, the value for the authentication registry type
cannot be changed. It is set to the previously configured authentication
registry type for the access point.
The three authentication registry types are as follows:
Local OS
Authenticates user login requests with the local operating system of
the target system. The target system must have a corresponding user
account in the operating-system registry.
LDAP Authenticates user login requests with a Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) server. Ensure that the LDAP server is configured in
your environment and available to the target system.
Domain
Authenticates user login requests with a specific domain server.
Ensure that the domain server is configured in your environment and
available to the target system.
6. Enter the appropriate user ID and password for the system. If you are creating
a credential for a resource that has defined a specific user ID that must be
used when authenticating, you cannot change the value in the User ID field.
7. Click Next. The Assign to IBM Systems Director User page is displayed.

Note: This page lists only Web interface users who have logged in to IBM
Systems Director. These users must log in at least once before a credential
mapping can be created.
8. Select the IBM Systems Director Web interface user for whom the single
sign-on credential is being created. You can use the current user or choose
another user from the table.

Remember: Only one mapping can be created for each of the users on this
page.
9. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
10. Click Finish. The credentials are automatically used to authenticate to the
selected console access point on the system.

Repeat the credential creation process for other console access points you plan to
access.

Editing single sign-on credentials:

Use the Create and Edit Single Sign-On Credentials wizard to edit single sign-on
shared credentials.

To edit a single sign-on credential, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.

Chapter 15. Security 657


2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Single Sign-On Credentials. The
Configure Single Sign-On Credentials page is displayed.
3. Click a remote-service console access point. The credentials associated with that
access point for the configured authentication registry are listed.
4. Select the credential that you want to edit.
5. Click Edit.

Note: If the Edit button is unavailable, the selected console access point is on
the IBM Systems Director Server. Single sign-on credentials for these access
points can only be displayed. You cannot create or edit these credentials
because they are automatically created when Web interface users log in to IBM
Systems Director.
The Create and Edit Single Sign-On Credentials wizard is displayed.
6. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Create Single Sign-On
Credential page is displayed.
7. Change the details that are available for changing.
8. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
9. Click Finish.

Deleting single sign-on credentials:

Use the Configure Single Sign-On Credentials page to delete single sign-on shared
credentials that are no longer needed.

If you have created any automated tasks in IBM Systems Director, ensure that you
check the systems that are the targets of those tasks and the credentials that are
used to log in to those systems. Some tasks might be configured to use a set of
credentials to accomplish the procedures in the task. Deleting the set of credentials
that are used by one of these automated tasks will prevent the task from accessing
targeted systems that are secured.

Note: You will not receive a warning when deleting a credential that is associated
with an automated tasks, and the task will no longer be able to access the system.

To delete a single sign-on credential, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Single Sign-On Credentials. The
Configure Single Sign-On Credentials page is displayed.
3. Click a console access point. The credentials associated with that access point
are listed.
4. Select the credential that you want to delete.
5. Click Delete. A confirmation message is displayed.
6. Click OK.

Managing mappings
Use IBM Systems Director to map a user's credentials in one user registry to
another user's credentials in another user registry.

Mappings represent associations between a source credential in one security


domain and a target credential in another domain. For example, you can map

658 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


credentials from your local registry to various other types of authentication
registries, such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

Mappings
Mappings represent associations between a source credential in one security
domain and a target credential in another domain. For example, you can map
credentials from your local registry to various other types of authentication
registries, such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

Depending on the values used in the mapping and how the mapping is associated
with an access point, the following three types of mapping associations are
possible:
One-to-one mapping
This most basic type of mapping is used when a specific user wants to
request the services of an access point. A source credential and a target
credential are specified, and the target credential must be valid in the same
registry that the access point uses for validation. This mapping can be used
by any access point that happens to validate to the same registry.
One-to-one mapping with access point association
Use one-to-one mapping with access point association if you want to
restrict a mapping to a particular access point.
As with one-to-one mapping, a source credential and a target credential are
specified. The target credential must still be valid in the registry the access
point uses for validation. However, the mapping is associated with a
specific access point.
Many-to-one mapping with access point association
Use many-to-one mapping with access point association if you want to
have a mapping with which any user can request the services of a
particular access point. This method avoids the need to create many
one-to-one mappings when all users must use the same target credential
for an access point.

Note: Because this type of mapping can enable broad access, IBM Systems
Director requires that you associate this type of mapping with an access
point.

Creating mappings
Use the Credentials mapping page to map one credential to another to create a
one-to-one credential mapping.

To create a one-to-one mapping between two credentials, complete the following


steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Credentials.
2. On the Credentials page, select the target credential that you want to map.
3. Click Actions > Mapping.
4. On the Mapping page, click Create. The Credential Mapping wizard opens.
5. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Source credential page is
displayed.

Chapter 15. Security 659


6. Choose whether you would like to use the current console credential or a
credential that was previously created and is displayed in the credential table.
If you choose to select a credential from the table, select it.

Note: A credential mapping can be created only for those Web interface users
who have logged in to IBM Systems Director at least once. Existing credential
mappings can still be edited or deleted.
7. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
8. Click Finish.

Editing mappings
Use the Credentials mapping page to edit an existing one-to-one credential
mapping.

To edit a one-to-one credential mapping, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Credentials.
2. On the Credentials page, select the target credential that you want to edit.
3. Click Actions > Mapping.
4. Select the mapping that you want to edit.
5. Click Edit. The Create Credential Mapping wizard is displayed.
6. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Source credential page is
displayed.
7. Select whether to use the current console credential or a credential that was
previously created and is displayed in the credential table.
8. If you choose to select a credential from the table, select it.
9. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
10. Click Finish.

Deleting mappings
Use the Credentials mapping page to delete one-to-one credential mappings that
are no longer needed.

To delete a one-to-one mapping between credentials, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, expand Security
and click Credentials.
2. On the Credentials page, select the credential that contains the mapping that
you want to delete.
3. Click Actions > Mapping.
4. On the Mapping page, select the mapping that you want to delete.
5. Click Delete. A confirmation message is displayed.
6. Click OK.

Configuring the authentication registry


Use the Configure Authentication Registry wizard to configure the authentication
registry that the selected console access point on the managed system uses to
authenticate credentials. The authentication registry enables IBM Systems Director
to use the credentials and credential mappings that were configured through the
credentials or the configure single sign-on credentials tasks with other selected
console access points or managed systems.

660 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


To configure the authentication registry, complete the following steps:
1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Single Sign-On Credentials. The
Configure Single Sign-On Credentials page is displayed.
3. Select a CONSOLE access type and then click Configure Authentication
Registry. The Configure Authentication Registry wizard is displayed.
4. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Authentication Registry Type
page is displayed.
5. From the Authentication Registry Type list, select the type of authentication
registry that you want to identify. The three authentication registry types are as
follows:
Local OS
Authenticates user login requests with the local operating system of the
target system. The target system must have a corresponding user
account in the operating-system registry.
LDAP Authenticates user login requests with a Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) server. Ensure that the LDAP server is configured in
your environment and available to the target system.
Domain
Authenticates user login requests with a specific domain server. Ensure
that the domain server is configured in your environment and available
to the target system.
6. If you chose LDAP or Domain and previously used the credentials or
configure access tasks to identify LDAP or domain authentication registries,
you can select the one you want to use from the list. Alternatively, select Use
the entry from below in the list, and then type the IP address or host name of
the LDAP server or domain.
7. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
8. Click Finish.

Managing targeted credentials


Use IBM Systems Director to configure the targeted credentials that are used to log
in to and access remote-service agent access points that are managed by IBM
Systems Director.

Targeted credentials are each assigned to only one remote-service agent access
point and are located in an authentication registry that is specific to that access
point. These credentials cannot be reused to access other agent access points. After
the credentials are configured, the IBM Systems Director Server can use them to
manage the selected system.

To access general system-management capabilities for the selected system, use


Navigate Resources > All systems > (right-click a system) > Security > Configure
Access.

Optionally, you can access advanced system-management capabilities for the


selected system by configuring system credentials. See “Managing system
credentials.”

Creating targeted credentials


Use the Configure Credential wizard to create targeted credentials.

Chapter 15. Security 661


With IBM Systems Director, you can create targeted credentials that are specific to
an agent access point on a resource.

Note: Certain types of agent access points (for example, CAS or IPC) do not
support this credential creation process. Instead, the use of the Request Access task
is all that is required to obtain access to all the agent access points on the resource
when these types of access points are present. The Request Access task creates the
necessary credentials and mappings, but they cannot be viewed or managed. If
you need to create or manage credentials for other agent access points even when
access points such as CAS or IPC are present, you can follow this process, but the
overall system access will be determined by the Request Access request.

To create a set of targeted credentials, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Access. The Configure Access page is
displayed.
3. Click an agent access type that supports the creation of targeted credentials
(for example, an access type other than CAS or IPC). The credentials
associated with that access point are listed.
4. Click Configure Credentials. The Configure Credential wizard is displayed.
5. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Credential Type page is
displayed.
6. Select the type of credential that you want to create. The following credential
types are available:
Key pair
Choose this credential type to specify a key pair file and password.

Restriction: Avoid creating a key pair credential on systems that do


not support a protocol using key pairs.
SNMP v1/v2c
Choose this credential type to use either SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c and
specify a community name.
SNMP v3
Choose this credential type to manage SNMPv3 profiles.
User ID and password
Choose this credential type to specify a user ID and password for the
credential.
X509 Choose this credential type to specify a keystore location and
password, and an alias for the credential.

Note:
v This list represents all available credential types. The list of credential types
that is displayed depends on the type of access point.
v Two credentials of the same type cannot exist simultaneously on an access
point. If one of these types of credentials is already created for this access
point, that credential type option will not be displayed. Your only option is
to edit the existing credential of that type or delete it before you can create
one of the same type.
7. Click Next. The Credential Details page that applies to the type of credential
that you chose is displayed.

662 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


8. Enter the values for the chosen credential type.
9. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
10. Click Finish. The credentials are automatically used to authenticate to the
selected access point on the system.

Editing targeted credentials


Use the Edit Credential wizard to edit targeted credentials.

To edit a targeted credential, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Access. The Configure Access page is
displayed.
3. Click an agent access type that supports the creation of targeted credentials (for
example, an access type other than CAS or IPC). The credentials associated
with that access point are listed.
4. Select the credential that you want to edit.
5. Click Edit. The Edit Credential wizard is displayed.
6. Change the details that are available for changing.
7. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
8. Click Finish.

Deleting targeted credentials


Use the Configure Credential wizard to delete targeted credentials that are no
longer needed.

If you have created any automated tasks in IBM Systems Director, ensure that you
check the systems that are the targets of those tasks and the credentials that are
used to log in to those systems. Some tasks might be configured to use a set of
credentials to accomplish the procedures in the task. Deleting the set of credentials
that are used by one of these automated tasks will prevent the task from accessing
targeted systems that are secured.

Note: You will not receive a warning when deleting a credential that is associated
with an automated tasks, and the task will no longer be able to access the system.

To delete a set of targeted credentials, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Access. The Configure Access page is
displayed.
3. On the Configure Access page, select the credentials that you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.

Note: Deleting these credentials might affect the access state of the targeted
system.
A confirmation message is displayed.
5. Click OK.

Managing system credentials


Use IBM Systems Director to configure system credentials that are used to log in to
and access advanced system-management functions on target systems.

Chapter 15. Security 663


Ensure that you have the correct authorization to access the resource and its access
points.

For an IBM Systems Director Web interface user to do certain types of advanced
system-management tasks on a target system, system credentials must exist. These
credentials map IBM Systems Director Web interface users to user credentials on
the selected system.

Like other targeted credentials, system credentials are each assigned to only one
remote-service agent access point and are located in an authentication registry that
is specific to that access point. These credentials cannot be reused to access other
agent access points.

After the credentials are configured, the IBM Systems Director Server can use them
to do advanced system-management functions on the selected system. In IBM
Systems Director, use Navigate Resources > All systems > (right-click a system) >
Security > Configure System Credentials to manage system credentials.

Creating system credentials:

Use the Create and Edit System Credentials wizard to create system credentials
that provide access to advanced system-management functions on a selected
system. These credentials map IBM Systems Director Web interface users to user
credentials on the target system.

To create a system credential, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Access. The Configure Access page is
displayed.
3. Click an access point. The credentials associated with that access point are
listed.
4. Click Create. The Create and Edit System Credentials wizard is displayed.

Note: If the Create button is disabled, all credential mappings that you have
the authority to create have been created for the configured authentication
registry on the selected system. A credential mapping can be created only for
those Web interface users who have logged in to IBM Systems Director at least
once. Existing credential mappings can still be edited or deleted.
5. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Create System Credential
page is displayed.
6. Enter the appropriate user ID and password for the system. If you are creating
a credential for a resource that has defined a specific user ID that must be
used when authenticating, you cannot change the value in the User ID field.
7. Click Next. The Assign to IBM Systems Director User page is displayed.

Note: This page lists only Web interface users who have logged in to IBM
Systems Director. These users must log in at least once before a credential can
be created.
8. Select the IBM Systems Director Web interface user for whom the system
credential is being created. You can use the current user or choose another
user from the table.

664 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Remember: Only one mapping can be created for each of the users on this
page.
9. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
10. Click Finish. The credentials are automatically used to authenticate to the
selected access point on the system.

Repeat the credential creation process for each agent access point that you plan to
use.

Editing system credentials:

Use the Create and Edit System Credentials wizard to edit existing system
credentials.

To edit a system credential, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Access. The Configure Access page is
displayed.
3. Click an access point. The credentials associated with that access point are
listed.
4. Select the credential that you want to edit.
5. Click Edit. The Edit Credential Wizard is displayed.
6. If the Welcome page is displayed, click Next. The Create System Credential
page is displayed.
7. Edit the credentials as needed.
8. Click Next. The Summary page is displayed.
9. Click Finish.

Deleting system credentials:

Use the Configure System Credentials page to delete system credentials that are no
longer needed.

If you have created any automated tasks in IBM Systems Director, ensure that you
check the systems that are the targets of those tasks and the credentials that are
used to log in to those systems. Some tasks might be configured to use a set of
credentials to accomplish the procedures in the task. Deleting the set of credentials
that are used by one of these automated tasks will prevent the task from accessing
targeted systems that are secured.

Note: You will not receive a warning when deleting a credential that is associated
with an automated tasks, and the task will no longer be able to access the system.

To delete a system credential, complete the following steps:


1. In the IBM Systems Director Web interface navigation area, click Navigate
Resources > group name > system name.
2. Click Actions > Security > Configure Access. The Configure Access page is
displayed.
3. Click a remote service agent access point. The credentials associated with that
access point are listed.
4. Select the credential that you want to delete.

Chapter 15. Security 665


5. Click Delete. A confirmation message is displayed.
6. Click OK.

Managing access
Use IBM Systems Director to configure credentials that are used to access managed
systems. These credentials enable IBM Systems Director to authenticate to and
manage target systems by using the protocols and access points available on the
managed system.

You can request access to and configure access options for systems in your
environment by using the request access task, the configure access task, or the
configure system credentials task. You can also revoke access to an accessed
system.

Accessing a secured system with request access


Use the Request Access page to request access to a secured system if the
management server to which you are connected has not yet authenticated to the
system. You must be able to access the system before you can perform tasks or
remotely access the system.

Ensure that you have the correct authorization to access the secured system.

Note: Agent access points are all access points that have an access type other than
console. If certain types of agent access points (for example, CAS or IPC) exist on a
resource, you must use this process to access all agent access points on the system.
This process creates the necessary credentials and mappings, but they cannot be
viewed or managed. For other types of agent access points on the secured
resource, you have the option of using the Configure Access task to request access.

Secured systems are displayed in IBM Systems Director Web interface with a
padlock icon beside them in the Access field or column of the systems details.
After a system is accessed, the padlock disappears and additional tasks and status
information are available.

The Access attribute for each resource shows the current access status. You cannot
request access to the resources that have the following types of access status:
v Offline: Use verify access instead.
v OK: No further action is required. You already have access to these resources.

To request access to secured managed systems, complete the following steps.

Note: You can select more than one system at a time as long as each requires the
same user ID and password.
1. In IBM Systems Director Web interface, click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the system that you want to access.
3. Right-click the system for which you want to request access and select Security
> Request Access.

Note: Alternatively, you can select Security > Configure Access and then click
Request Access on the Configure Access page.
4. On the Request Access page, type the user ID and password of a user that
belongs to the System group.

666 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Note: You can use the sudo utility to configure agentless managed systems
running AIX or Linux so that they are accessible by a user without
administrator privileges.
5. Click Request Access. Credentials are created and authenticated to the
managed system in an attempt to access it.

If the access request is successful, the access status for the managed system
changes to OK.

If the access status changes to Partial Access, then the access request was
unsuccessful for at least one access point. Click Configure Access to see the list of
access points and their access states. If necessary, to create additional credentials,
click an access point that does not have an access state of OK and repeat this
procedure.
Related tasks

Configuring access to agentless managed systems

Accessing a secured system with configure access


Use the Configure Access page to configure credentials for the agent access points
on a managed system. These credentials provide access to basic system
management functions on the target system for all authorized IBM Systems
Director users.

Ensure that you have the correct authorization to access the resource and its access
points.

To maximize the management capability of a resource, ensure that all access points
that are hosted on the resource are accessible. To do this, configure credentials that
are used to authenticate to each of those access points.

Note: Certain types of agent access points (for example, CAS or IPC) do not
support this credential configuration process. Instead, the use of the Request
Access task is all that is required to obtain access to all the agent access points on
the resource when these types of access points are present. The Request Access
task creates the necessary credentials and mappings, but they cannot be viewed or
managed. If you need to configure or manage credentials for other agent access
points even when access points such as CAS or IPC are present, you can follow
this process, but the overall system access will be determined by the Request
Access request.

To configure credentials to access secured managed systems, complete the


following steps:
1. In IBM Systems Director Web interface click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the system for which you want to configure access.
3. Right-click the system and select Security > Configure Access. The Configure
Access page is displayed.
4. On the Configure Access page, right-click each listed access point and select
Credential.
5. Complete the task for creating the type of credential that you want. After the
credential is created, it is automatically used to authenticate to the selected
system.
6. Repeat the credential creation process for each access point that you plan to
use.
Chapter 15. Security 667
If you are successful in obtaining access to all access points on a resource, its
access state displays OK.

If the access status changes to Partial Access, then the access request was
unsuccessful for at least one access point. Click Configure Access to see the list of
access points and their access states. If necessary, to create additional credentials,
click an access point that does not have an access state of OK and repeat this
procedure.

Configuring access to CIM using X509 certificates


You can configure access to the Common Information Model (CIM) server to use
X509 certificates to unlock CIM Remote Service Access Point (RSAP) from IBM
Systems Director. This is useful when you need access to the Platform Agent
without requiring any privileged user credentials. The IBM Systems Director X509
certificate must exist in the Platform Agent truststore. The certificate is associated
with a user and is used for authorization within the Platform Agent.
1. Use the cimtrust command to install the IBM Systems Director X509 certificate
in the Platform Agent truststore. For example, use the following command to
create the self-signed X509 certificate in the Platform Agent truststore with
associated user root. The trustedclient.cert file should contain the X509
public key certificate of the trusted client.
cimtrust -a -U root -f trustedclient.cert -T s

For information on the cimtrust command, see the following website:


http://linux.die.net/man/8/cimtrust.
2. Configure access for CIM using the X509 certificate to unlock the CIM RSAP.
a. Ensure the IBM Systems Director certificate exists in the Platform Agent
truststore.
b. Perform a system discovery to discover the managed end point.
c. In the IBM Systems Director navigation area, click Navigate Resources.
Navigate to the resource to ensure it was discovered successfully.
d. Right-click the resource then select Security > Configure Access.
e. Right-click the resource then select Credential.
f. Select the X509 credential then click Next.
g. Enter the credential details, including the keystore location, password, and
the certificate alias in the keystore.
h. Click Finish. The CIM RSAP should now be unlocked.
Related tasks
“Performing a system discovery” on page 35

Revoking access to a secured system


Use the Revoke Access action to revoke access to a system to which you previously
had access.

The Access attribute for each resource shows the current access status. A resource
must be accessible, with an access status of OK or Partial Access, before you can
revoke its access.

To revoke access to secured managed systems, complete the following steps:


1. In IBM Systems Director Web interface click Navigate Resources.
2. Navigate to the system to which you want to revoke access.

668 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Tip: You can select more than one accessible system at a time.
3. Right-click the system and select Security > Revoke Access.
4. Click OK.

If access is successfully revoked, the access status changes to No access.

Managing access to agentless managed systems


When accessing agentless managed systems from IBM Systems Director, it is good
practice to configure access using a user account other than root. This way, you can
limit the functions that can be performed by the user account and increase the
detail of the audit records that display who has accessed the system.

IBM Systems Director must be configured to enable access to agentless managed


systems through user accounts other than root. After IBM Systems Director has
been configured using the sudo utility, you can request access to resources using
the request access task, the configure access task, or the configure system
credentials task. You can also revoke access to an agentless managed system.
Related tasks

Configuring access to agentless managed systems

Accessing a managed system with configure system


credentials
In some cases, the request access and configure access tasks might not provide the
IBM Systems Director Server with all the necessary credentials to fully manage a
target system. Use the IBM Systems Director configure systems credentials task to
set up credentials that provide access to advanced system-management functions
for the selected system.

Ensure that you have the correct authorization to access the resource and its access
points.

To maximize the management capabilities for a resource, you can configure


additional credentials by using the Configure System Credentials page to ensure
that all agent access points for the resource are accessible. System credentials are
mapped from specific IBM Systems Director Web interface users to user credentials
on the target system.

Communication protocols and supported encryption algorithms


The IBM Systems Director Server can communicate with target resources by using
a predetermined set of communication protocols. Depending on the type of
managed system, these communication protocols support various levels of
encryption.

The following combinations of communication protocols and encryption algorithms


are supported.

Chapter 15. Security 669


Table 57. Supported communication protocols and encryption algorithms
Managed system type Communication protocol Encryption algorithm
Agentless managed system Windows Distributed component object RC2.
model (DCOM)
Simple Network Management Protocol Not encrypted.
(SNMP) v1 and v2
SNMP v3 Encrypted. Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES) or Data Encryption
Standard (DES).
Secure Shell (SSH) Encryption algorithm is negotiated.
Notes:
v SSH is unsupported on managed
systems running the Windows
operating system.
v IBM Systems Director does not
include an SSH server. Use the SSH
server included with the operating
system or an SSH-compliant server
from a third party.
Platform Agent managed Agentless Supports the communication protocols
system and encryption algorithms listed for
Agentless managed system.
Common Information Model (CIM) If configured, encryption is enabled by
default using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
port 5989.
Common Agent managed IBM Director 5.x interprocess Encrypted (AES, DES, or Triple DES).
system communication (IPC)
Tivoli Common Agent Services 6.x Encrypted Web services (SSL).
Other Service Location Protocol (SLP) Not encrypted.

Encrypting passwords for database configuration


Encrypt passwords for your database configuration before you run the cfgdbcmd
tool.

Ensure that cfgdbcmd.rsp is completely configured and located in its default


location of install_root\proddata, where install_root is the root directory of your
IBM Systems Director installation. The password encryption tool can read the
cfgdbcmd.rsp file only if it is in its default location.

Complete the following steps for your operating system to encrypt passwords for
your database configuration:
v Encrypt passwords on Windows:

Note: You do not need to run cfgserver.bat -db if you previously configured
your database by running cfgserver.bat -all.
1. Open a command prompt.
2. Change your working directory to install_root\bin, where install_root is the
root directory of your IBM Systems Director installation.
3. Run cfgserver.bat -db.

670 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


4. Provide the information requested by the script, pressing Enter after every
answer. This script prompts for the user ID and password for the chosen
database server and writes the user ID and the encrypted password to the
response file in the DbmsUserId and DbmsPassword fields.

Note: If you have multiple database sections in the response file, this script
overwrites the user ID and password for each database section.
v Encrypt passwords on AIX or Linux:
1. Run the install_root/bin/configDB.sh file, where install_root is the root
directory of your IBM Systems Director installation.
2. Provide the information requested by the script, pressing Enter after every
answer.

After the password encryption tool completes, the user ID and password that you
specified are written to the correct location of the cfgdbcmd.rsp file and the
password is encrypted. See “Configuring the database application after IBM
Systems Director installation” for information about your next steps.
Related tasks

Preparing the database application

Configuring the database after installation

Chapter 15. Security 671


672 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Appendix. Accessibility features for IBM Systems Director
Accessibility features help users who have a disability, such as restricted mobility
or limited vision, to use information technology products successfully.

Accessibility features

The following list includes the major accessibility features in IBM Systems Director:
v Uses accessibility support enabled by your Web browser
v Can be operated using only the keyboard
v Communicates all information independent of color
v Supports the attachment of alternate output devices
v Provides help information in an accessible format
v Supports alternatives to audio information
v (Microsoft® Windows® systems only) Supports interfaces commonly used by
screen readers and screen magnifiers

The IBM Systems Information Center, and its related publications, are
accessibility-enabled. The accessibility features of the information center are
described at Accessibility and keyboard shortcuts in the information center.

Tip: For technical details about the accessibility support in IBM Systems Director,
see the Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs). You can request VPATs
from the Web at www.ibm.com/research/accessibility/requests/accvpat.nsf/
bidxjs?OpenForm.

IBM and accessibility

See the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center for more information about
the commitment that IBM has to accessibility.

Accessibility options in IBM Systems Director


Set user preferences to improve accessibility settings in IBM Systems Director.

Accessibility settings: Interface information

The IBM Systems Director Web interface provides options that can improve
usability by simplifying tables and providing audio cues when dynamic pages
change. These options also improve screen reader enablement.

To enable accessibility options in the IBM Systems Director Web interface, follow
these steps:
1. Open Settings > Navigation Preferences.
2. Turn on the following options:
v Enable tables for accessibility. This option turns off table features that are not
accessible in the interface, such as fixed column width.
v Play sound when data on the page changes. This option enables an audio
alert for updates to the Web interface.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 673


v Use resource table view as default view for topology perspectives. Topology
maps are not accessible. This option converts map data into an accessible
table format.
3. Click OK or Apply to save your settings.

Keyboard navigation in IBM Systems Director


Accessibility features help users who have a disability, such as restricted mobility
or limited vision, to use information technology products successfully.

Navigating the console using the keyboard

You can navigate the IBM Systems Director Web interface using keyboard shortcuts
that are provided by your Web browser. Refer to your Web browser documentation
for more information about keyboard shortcuts.

Use the following key combinations to navigate the console by keyboard:


v To move through the controls on a particular page, press Tab.
v To click a link or control on a page using the keyboard, navigate to the link or
control and press Enter.
v To open a combination box, press Alt+Down arrow. To then navigate in the
combination box, press the arrow keys.

Notes: Every table as a set of functions at the bottom of the table that you can use
to navigate through pages in the table. One function is the Go to page field. If you
enter a page number that is not valid in this field, the table stays on the current
page.

Navigating the help using the keyboard

Use the following key combinations to navigate the help system by keyboard:
v To bring the Topic pane (the right hand side) into focus, press Alt+K, and then
press Tab.
v In the Topic pane, to go to the next link, press the Tab key. To go to the
previous link, press Shift+Tab.
v To go directly to the Search Results view in the left hand side, press Alt+R, and
then press the Enter key or Up arrow to enter the view.
v To go directly to the Navigation (Table of Contents) view in the left hand side,
press Alt+C, and then press Enter or the Up arrow to enter the view.
v To navigate your browser history, press Alt+Left arrow to go back. If you have
navigated back to a previously view page, press Alt+Right arrow to navigate
forward again.
v To expand and collapse a node in the navigation tree, tab to the + or - icon next
to the node to bring the node into focus, and then press the Right arrow or Left
arrow.
v To go to the next frame in the help system, press F6. To go to the previous frame
in the help system, press Shift+F6.
v In the navigation, to move to the next topic node, press the Down arrow or Tab.
To move to the previous topic node, press the Up arrow or Shift+Tab.
v To go to the next link, button, or topic node from inside a view, press Tab.
v To scroll all the way up or down in a frame, press Home or End, respectively.
v To print the active pane, press Ctrl+P.

674 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


v To move to the search entry field, press Alt+S.

Note: Screen readers may override keyboard commands. Refer to the Using a
screen reader topic for more information.

Using a screen reader with IBM Systems Director


Recommendations and restrictions when using a screen reader for accessibility in
IBM Systems Director.

Screen reader accessibility:

IBM Systems Director supports screen readers in Microsoft Windows. The Web
interface is tested with Freedom Scientific JAWS for Windows screen reader
software. The following tips can help you successfully navigate the IBM Systems
Director Web interface with JAWS:
v Access IBM Systems Director Server using a supported Mozilla Firefox browser.
Certain functions, such as dynamic refresh, do not work correctly when using
Internet Explorer with JAWS screen reader.
v Turn on the accessibility options in IBM Systems Director. See “Accessibility
options in IBM Systems Director” on page 673 for instructions.
v Use the following JAWS key commands to navigate Actions menus when
working with resource tables:
– To move to the next menu item with focus and control, press and hold Shift
+ Ctrl keys while using the Up arrow and Down arrow keys.
– In the navigation pane, each node is a single list item. Press Insert+Tab to
read the selected node.
– To navigate to a sub-menu, navigate into a sub-menu list, press Alt + Right
arrow key.
– To navigate within Actions menus, press Insert + z to toggle the JAWS virtual
keyboard.
– If tables are difficult to understand with JAWS, press Insert + v to open the
Adjust JAWS Options page and change the table reading preferences.
– Other JAWS key commands are documented in the JAWS product. A quick
reference guide is available online: http://www.freedomscientific.com/
training/training-JAWS-keystrokes.htm

JAWS restrictions:

For detailed descriptions of accessibility limitations and techniques to work around


those limitations, refer to the Accessibility troubleshooting topic.
v JAWS is not detecting and reporting correctly when buttons are disabled when
running in Mozilla Firefox. Buttons may be read without indicating they are
disabled. If you select a disabled button, an audio 'beep' will indicate a change,
but the page will not change.
v In some cases, submitting a page where required fields have not been filled in
correctly will cause an error. The error message indicates that there are
incomplete required fields but will not automatically advance the user to the
field that caused the error. You must manually advance through the fields to
resolve the problem.
v The installation interface is not accessible. The alternative is to follow
instructions for silent install. See Accessible method for installing IBM Systems
Director.

Appendix. Accessibility features 675


v IBM Systems Director limits the amount of time a browser session can remain
inactive before the session is timed out. See Preventing session timeouts for
users with disabilities.
v The accessible alternative for viewing the topology map is the resource view or
relationship view. The content within these views is limited or enhanced by the
depth value, which defaults to 3 and can be set to any level from 1 to a variable
maximum level. Setting the depth to the maximum will list all of the endpoints
available, while lesser numbers will show fewer endpoints.

676 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


Notices
This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A.

IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in
other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the
products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM
product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM
product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product,
program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may
be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify the
operation of any non-IBM product, program, or service.

IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter
described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not grant you
any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:

IBM Director of Licensing


IBM Corporation
North Castle Drive
Armonk, NY 10504-1785
U.S.A.

For license inquiries regarding double-byte (DBCS) information, contact the IBM
Intellectual Property Department in your country or send inquiries, in writing, to:

IBM World Trade Asia Corporation


Licensing 2-31 Roppongi 3-chome, Minato-ku
Tokyo 106-0032, Japan

The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any other
country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law:
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS
PUBLICATION “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or
implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply
to you.

This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.


Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be
incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements
and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this
publication at any time without notice.

Any references in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided for
convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web
sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBM
product and use of those Web sites is at your own risk.

IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it
believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 677


Licensees of this program who wish to have information about it for the purpose
of enabling: (i) the exchange of information between independently created
programs and other programs (including this one) and (ii) the mutual use of the
information which has been exchanged, should contact:

IBM Corporation
MW9A/050
5600 Cottle Road
San Jose, CA 95193
U.S.A.

Such information may be available, subject to appropriate terms and conditions,


including in some cases, payment of a fee.

The licensed program described in this information and all licensed material
available for it are provided by IBM under terms of the IBM Customer Agreement,
IBM International Program License Agreement, or any equivalent agreement
between us.

Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlled


environment. Therefore, the results obtained in other operating environments may
vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level
systems and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same on
generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have been
estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document
should verify the applicable data for their specific environment.

Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from the suppliers of


those products, their published announcements or other publicly available sources.
IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the accuracy of
performance, compatibility or any other claims related to non-IBM products.
Questions on the capabilities of non-IBM products should be addressed to the
suppliers of those products.

All statements regarding IBM's future direction or intent are subject to change or
withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

This information contains examples of data and reports used in daily business
operations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples include the
names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names are
fictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual business
enterprise is entirely coincidental.

If you are viewing this information softcopy, the photographs and color
illustrations may not appear.

Trademarks
IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of
International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries,
or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first
occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols
indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this
information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common

678 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on
the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/
copytrade.shtml.

Adobe is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems


Incorporated in the United States, and/or other countries.

Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries


in the United States and other countries.

Java and the Java logo are a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United
States, other countries, or both.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other


countries, or both.

Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United


States, other countries, or both.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other
countries.

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of


others.

Notices 679
680 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Glossary
This glossary includes terms and definitions for IBM Systems Director.

To view glossaries for other IBM products, go to information about the common agents
www.ibm.com/software/globalization/ and resource managers in a user's
terminology/. environment.
Agentless-managed system
A A system that does not have an agent
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) installed but can be discovered by IBM
A data encryption technique that Systems Director using Secure Shell
improved upon and officially replaced the (SSH), Distributed Component Object
Data Encryption Standard (DES). AES is Model (DCOM), or Simple Network
sometimes referred to as Rijndael, which Management Protocol (SNMP).
is the algorithm on which the standard is
The function available to
based.
Agentless-managed systems is limited to
Advanced System Management interconnect the following tasks, and varies based on
(ASM interconnect) operating system and hardware: discover
A feature of IBM service processors that systems, collect limited operating-system
enables users to connect up to 24 servers inventory data, remotely deploy and
to one service processor, thus eliminating install Common Agent and Platform
the need for multiple modems, Agent, perform limited remote access, and
telephones, and LAN ports. It provides perform limited restart capabilities
such out-of-band management functions
alert A message or other indication that signals
as system power control,
an event or an impending event.
service-processor event-log management,
firmware updates, alert notification, and alert forwarding
user profile configuration. A function that ensures that alerts are
sent, even if a managed system
Advanced System Management processor (ASM
experiences a catastrophic failure, such as
processor)
an operating-system failure.
A service processor built into the
mid-range Netfinity® and early xSeries Alert Standard Format (ASF)
servers. IBM Director can connect A protocol for the remote management of
out-of-band to an ASM processor located systems in environments without
on an ASM interconnect; an ASM PCI operating systems.
adapter, a Remote Supervisor Adapter, or
ASM interconnect
a Remote Supervisor II must serve as the
See Advanced System Management
gateway service processor.
interconnect.
AES See Advanced Encryption Standard.
ASM processor
agentless See Advanced System Management
Pertaining to a type of data collection that processor.
is accomplished without installing
Auto-Logical Drive Transfer
additional agents. Data is obtained by
See auto volume transfer/auto disk
using software that is already installed on
transfer.
the computer.
auto volume transfer/auto disk transfer
agent manager
(AVT/ADT)
A network service that provides
A function that provides automatic
authentication and authorization and that
failover in case of controller failure on a
maintains a registry of configuration
storage subsystem.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 681


AVT/ADT name, network protocols, and static IP
See auto volume transfer/auto disk addresses. If Remote Deployment
transfer. Manager (RDM) is installed on the
management server, the chassis
B detect-and-deploy profile also can include
deployment policies.
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
The code that controls basic hardware CIM See Common Information Model.
operations, such as interactions with
cloning
diskette drives, hard disk drives, and the
In z/VM, a copying technique that
keyboard.
preserves the characteristics of the
Bash shell original but personalizes instance-specific
An sh-compatible shell that incorporates data. The result of a cloning operation is
the positive aspects of Korn shell and C new instance of an entity (for example, of
shell. It serves as the GNU operating a virtual disk, a virtual computer system,
system's command language interpreter. or an operating system) rather than a
backup of the original.
BIOS See Basic Input/Output System.
cluster
Blade slot connection
A collection of complete systems that
The connection between the SAS
work together to provide a single, unified
connectivity module and a BladeCenter
computing capability.
server blade.
Common Agent
Basic Zone Permission Table
Common Agent provides a rich set of
A table on the Manage Fabric page. Use it
security, deployment, and management
to map zone groups with hosts to zone
function. The function available for
groups that have storage that you want
Common-Agent managed systems varies
those hosts to have access to.
based on operating system and hardware,
BladeCenter chassis and includes the following tasks: discover
A BladeCenter unit that acts as an systems; collect comprehensive platform
enclosure. This 7-U modular chassis can and operating system inventory data;
contain up to 14 blade servers. It enables monitor health and status; manage alerts;
the individual blade servers to share remotely deploy and install Common
resources, such as the management, Agent; perform remote access, including
switch, power, and blower modules. transferring files; perform power
management function; additional event
blade server
support; monitor processes and resources,
A high-throughput, two-way, Intel
and set critical thresholds that send
Xeon-based server on a card that supports
notifications when triggered; manage
symmetric multiprocessors (SMPs).
operating system resources and processes.
browser system
Common Agent-managed system
A system that connects to the IBM
An IBM or non-IBM server, desktop
Systems Director Web interface on the
computer, workstation, or mobile
management server through a Web
computer that has Common Agent
browser.
installed. The function of a Common
Agent-managed system varies depending
C on the operating system and hardware.
chassis
Common Information Model (CIM)
The metal frame in which various
An implementation-neutral,
electronic components are mounted.
object-oriented schema for describing
chassis detect-and-deploy profile network management information. The
A profile that IBM Director automatically Distributed Management Task Force
applies to all new BladeCenter chassis (DMTF) develops and maintains CIM
when they are discovered. The profile specifications.
settings include management module

682 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


configuration plan include disk spaces from multiple
A set of configuration templates used to physical disks. A disk pool corresponds to
configure a system. a z/VM Directory Maintenance Facility
allocation group.
configuration setting
Realtime definition of a system or device, distributed component object model (DCOM)
which can be saved as a configuration An extension of the Microsoft Component
template. You can save configuration Object Model (COM) to support objects
settings from a system and turn then into distributed across a network.
configuration templates, or you can create
Domain
configuration setting from scratch.
A group of IP addresses that corresponds
configuration template to a specific site, group, university,
A version of configuration settings that company, or other organization.
are not on a given system, but are stored
DSA See digital signature algorithm.
for future deployment. You can deploy a
configuration template on a system Dword
without having it as a member of a A sequence of four contiguous bytes or
configuration plan. characters which, together, are considered
one unit. When discussing the bits that
D are transmitted over a physical link, dword
represents four characters (or 40 bits).
database
When discussing the contents of a frame
The database that contains the data stored
after 10b8b decoding, dword represents
by IBM Systems Director Server.
four bytes (or 32 bits).
database server
Dword sync
The server on which the database
Dword synchronization. Detection of an
application and database are installed.
incoming stream of dwords from a
Data Encryption Standard (DES) physical link by a PHY.
A cryptographic algorithm designed to
encrypt and decrypt data using a private E
key.
ECM Expander connection manager. An object
DES See Data Encryption Standard. within an expander that manages routing.
Diffie-Hellman key exchange enclosure
A public, key-exchange algorithm that is A unit that houses the components of a
used for securely establishing a shared storage subsystem, such as a control unit,
secret over an insecure channel. disk drives, and power source.
digital signature algorithm (DSA) endpoint
A security protocol that uses a pair of The system that is the origin or
keys (one public and one private) and a destination of a session.
one-way encryption algorithm to provide
event An occurrence of significance to a task or
a robust way of authenticating users and
system. Events can include completion or
systems. If a public key can successfully
failure of an operation, a user action, or
decrypt a digital signature, a user can be
the change in state of a process.
sure that the signature was encrypted
using the private key. event action
The action that IBM Director takes in
discovery
response to a specific event or events.
The process of finding resources within
an enterprise, including finding the new event-automation plan
location of monitored resources that were A user-defined plan that determines how
moved. IBM Systems Director will manage certain
events. An event action plan comprises
disk pool
one or more event filters and one or more
In z/VM Center, a logical grouping of
customized event actions.
contiguous disk spaces. A disk pool can

Glossary 683
event filter host bus adapters (HBAs) that the cluster
A filter that specifies the event criteria for has detected on the storage area network
an event action plan. Events must meet (SAN).
the criteria specified in the event filter in
host system
order to be processed by the event action
A system that contains resources from
plan to which the filter is assigned.
which virtual servers are constructed.
Expander
HT See Hyper-Threading.
A device that enables quick aggregation
of several disk drives in a single SAS Hyper-Threading (HT)
domain. An expander can connect A technology with which a single
multiple hosts to multiple targets. A SAS processor can function as two virtual
connectivity module is an expander. processors and execute two threads
simultaneously.
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
A standard metalanguage for defining hypervisor
markup languages that is based on A program or a portion of Licensed
Standard Generalized Markup Language Internal Code (LIC) that allows multiple
(SGML). instances of operating systems to run
simultaneously on the same hardware.
F
I
fabric A complex network using hubs, switches,
and gateways. Fibre channel uses a fabric IBM Systems Director environment
to connect devices. The complex, heterogeneous environment
managed by IBM Director. It includes
field-replaceable unit (FRU)
systems, BladeCenter chassis, software,
An assembly that is replaced in its
and SNMP devices.
entirety when any one of its components
fails. IBM Systems Director plug-ins
A tool that extends the functionality of
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
IBM Systems Director (for example,
In TCP/IP, an application layer protocol
Electronic Service Agent).
that uses TCP and Telnet services to
transfer bulk-data files between machines IBM Systems Director Server
or hosts. The main component of IBM Director
software. When installed on the
FRU See field-replaceable unit.
management server, it provides basic
functions such as discovery of the
G
managed systems, persistent storage of
gateway configuration and management data, an
inventory database, event listening,
gigabyte (GB)
security and authentication, management
In decimal notation, 1 073 741 824 when
console support, and administrative tasks.
referring to memory capacity; in all other
cases, it is defined as 1 000 000 000. IBM Systems Director Server service
A service that runs automatically on the
group A logical set of managed objects. Groups
management server, and provides the
can be dynamic, static, or task-based.
server engine and application logic for
IBM Systems Director.
H
IBM Director service account
HBA Host bus adapter. It plugs into a host so
The Windows operating-system account
that it can communicate with a SCSI
associated with the IBM Director Server
device.
service.
host object
image A bootable operating system and
A logical object that groups one or more
additional software in the form of a single
worldwide port names (WWPNs) of the
raw image file. You can store, copy, and

684 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


customize system images to reuse them with each other within the same
for creating virtual servers. computer or over a network.
image repository IPC See interprocess communication.
A part of a local or shared file system that
ISMP See integrated system management
is used to store system images.
processor.
inband communication
iso image
Pertaining to events that are transmitted
A disk image for an ISO 9660 file system,
between IBM Systems Director Server and
containing the installable files for a
service processors in systems that are
particular update or upgrade.
running the required IBM Systems
Director agent inventory data
Information about physical, logical, and
Initiator
virtual hardware (such as virtual systems,
A SCSI device that asks another SCSI
virtual servers, and farms), software
device (the target) to perform an
applications, operating systems,
operation. Usually, a host computer acts
middleware, firmware and BIOS,
as an initiator and a peripheral device
diagnostics, and network.
acts as a target. With SAS zoning,
initiators and targets can see only parts of
J
a domain. These parts are called zone
groups. job A separately runnable unit of work.
instance job instance
An individual realization of the operating A specific occurrence of a job that is
system with a particular version, running or has completed running.
configuration, physical location, and
identifier. K
In object-oriented programming, an object keystore
of a particular class. In security, a storage object, either a file or
a hardware cryptographic card, where
integrated system management processor
identities and private keys are stored, for
(ISMP)
authentication and encryption purposes.
A service processor built into some
Some keystores also contain trusted, or
xSeries servers. ISMP is the successor to
public, keys.
the Advanced System Management (ASM)
processor.
L
Intelligent Peripheral Management Interface
launched task
(IPMI)
Tasks that start outside of the IBM
A standard for controlling intelligent
Systems Director Web interface.
devices that monitor a system. It provides
for dynamic discovery of sensors in the light path diagnostics
system and the ability to monitor the A technology that provides a lighted path
sensors and be informed when the to failed or failing components to
sensor's values change or go outside expedite hardware repairs.
certain boundaries.
logical unit number (LUN)
interprocess communication (IPC) In the Small Computer System Interface
1. The process by which programs send (SCSI) standard, a unique identifier used
messages to each other. Sockets, to differentiate devices, each of which is a
semaphores, signals, and internal logical unit (LU).
message queues are common methods Loss dword sync
of interprocess communication. An error that occurs when a PHY stops
2. A mechanism of an operating system detecting an incoming stream of dwords.
that allows processes to communicate
LUN See logical unit number.

Glossary 685
M nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM)
Random access memory (storage) that
MAC address
retains its contents after the electrical
See Media Access Control address.
power to the machine is shut off.
management module
NVRAM
The BladeCenter component that handles
See nonvolatile random access memory.
system-management functions. It
configures the chassis and switch
O
modules, communicates with the blade
servers and all I/O modules, multiplexes out-of-band communication
the keyboard/video/mouse (KVM), and Pertaining to events that are transmitted
monitors critical information about the between the service processor and IBM
chassis and blade servers. Systems Director Server over a shared
connection. The type of service processor
MD5 A type of message algorithm that converts
present in a server determines which
a message of arbitrary length into a
paths out-of-band communication can
128-bit message digest. This algorithm is
take. These types of communication are
used for digital signature applications
known as out-of-band communication
where a large message must be
because they take place independent of an
compressed in a secure manner.
operating system.
management server
The server on which IBM Director Server P
is installed.
PCI See Peripheral Component Interconnect.
Media Access Control address (MAC address) See also Peripheral Component
In a local area network, the protocol that Interconnect-X.
determines which device has access to the
PCI-X See Peripheral Component Interconnect-X.
transmission medium at a given time.
See also Peripheral Component
megabyte (MB) Interconnect.
For processor storage, real and virtual
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
storage, and channel volume, 2 to the
A local bus that provides a high-speed
20th power or 1 048 576 bytes.
data path between the processor and
For disk storage capacity and attached devices. See also Peripheral
communications volume, 1 000 000 bytes. Component Interconnect-X.
Peripheral Component Interconnect-X (PCI-X)
N
An enhancement to the Peripheral
network interface card Component Interconnect (PCI)
A printed circuit board that plugs into a architecture. PCI-X enhances the
personal computer, server, or workstation. Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
It controls the exchange of data over a standard by doubling the throughput
network and provides the electronic capability and providing additional
functions for the data-link protocol or adapter-performance options while
access method, such as token ring or maintaining backward compatibility with
Ethernet. PCI adapters. See also Peripheral
Component Interconnect.
network interface controller (NIC)
Hardware that provides the interface persistent
control between system main storage and Pertaining to data that is maintained
external high-speed link (HSL) ports. across session boundaries, usually in
nonvolatile storage such as a database
Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP)
system or a directory.
A protocol that is used to post messages
in, distribute messages to, and retrieve PFA See Predictive Failure Analysis.
messages from news groups and to
PHY Physical layer. A PHY is responsible for
transfer articles between news servers.
the transmission of signals between

686 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


computers. The function of each zone Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA)
group is determined by how you A scheduled evaluation of system data
configure each PHY port on an expander. that detects and signals parametric
degradation which might lead to
PHY reset
functional failures.
Any of several problems that can arise
during a PHY reset sequence that can private key
cause the sequence to fail. In secure communication, an algorithmic
pattern used to encrypt messages that
physical platform
only the corresponding public key can
An IBM Director managed object that
decrypt. The private key is also used to
represents a single physical chassis or
decrypt messages that were encrypted by
server that has been discovered through
the corresponding public key. The private
the use of the Service Location Protocol
key is kept on the user's system and is
(SLP).
protected by a password. See also public
Platform Agent key.
Platform Agent provides a lighter
public key
footprint and fewer management
In secure communication, an algorithmic
functions than the Common Agent. The
pattern used to decrypt messages that
function available for Platform-Agent
were encrypted by the corresponding
managed systems is limited to the
private key. A public key is also used to
following tasks, and varies based on
encrypt messages that can be decrypted
operating system and hardware: discover
only by the corresponding private key.
systems, collect limited platform
Users broadcast their public keys to
inventory data, monitor health and status,
everyone with whom they must exchange
manage alerts, remotely deploy and
encrypted messages. See also private key.
install Common Agent, perform limited
remote access, and perform limited restart
Q
capabilities.
Platform Agent-managed system R
An IBM or non-IBM server, desktop
remote I/O enclosure
computer, workstation, or mobile
An expansion enclosure of Peripheral
computer that has Platform Agent
Component Interconnect-X (PCI-X) slots,
installed.
for example, an RXE-100 Remote
Platform manager Expansion Enclosure. The enclosure
Software that manages one or more host consists of one or two expansion kits.
systems and their associated virtual
Remote Supervisor Adapter
servers and operating systems. Platform
An IBM service processor. It is built into
managers can be started from the IBM
some xSeries servers and available as an
Systems Director Web interface. For
optional adapter for use with others.
example, BladeCenter Management
When used as a gateway service
Module, IBM Hardware Management
processor, the Remote Supervisor Adapter
Console (HMC), IBM Integrated
can communicate with all service
Virtualization Manager (IVM), and
processors on the Advanced System
VMware VirtualCenter are platform
Management (ASM) interconnect.
managers.
resource
plug-in
A generic term for anything that IBM
A software module that adds function to
Systems Director can manage. For
an existing program or application.
example, systems, groups, and updates
POST See power-on self-test. are all resources.
power-on self-test (POST) resource manager
A series of internal diagnostic tests In the Tivoli common agent services , the
activated each time the system power is server of a management application that
turned on. directly interacts with a managed

Glossary 687
resource. For example, a resource memory space and access to all associated
manager installs bundles on the agent adapters. A scalable partition is the logical
and starts and stops a subagent. equivalent of a physical platform. Scalable
partitions are associated with scalable
resource-monitor threshold
systems and comprise only the scalable
The point at which a resource monitor
nodes from their associated scalable
generates an event.
systems.
root user
scalable system
1. In Linux and UNIX operating An IBM Director managed object that
systems, a user who has superuser consists of scalable nodes and the scalable
authority and root privileges. A root partitions that are composed of the
user's user identifier (UID) is 0. scalable nodes in the scalable system.
2. A system user who operates without When a scalable system contains two or
restrictions. A root user has the special more scalable nodes, the servers that they
rights and privileges needed to represent must be interconnected through
perform administrative tasks. their SMP Expansion Modules to make a
multinode configuration, for example, a
RSA See Remote Supervisor Adapter.
16-way xSeries 455 server made from four
scalable nodes.
S
SCSI Small computer systems interface. A
SAN Storage area network. A network that
high-speed communications protocol that
attaches computer storage devices to
allows your computer to communicate
servers. (A disk array controller is an
with peripheral hardware.
example of a computer storage device.)
SCSI domain
SAS Serial attached SCSI. A mechanism for
An I/O system that consists of a set of
accessing computer peripheral devices.
SCSI devices that communicate with each
SAS employs a serial (one bit at a time)
other through a service delivery
means of digital data transfer over thin
subsystem.
cables.
secure copy (SCP)
SAS domain
A means of securely transferring
The I/O system that can also serve as a
computer files between a local and a
SCSI domain. Also known as a service
remote host or between two remote hosts
delivery subsystem.
using secure shell (ssh).
SATA Serial advanced technology attachment. A
Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA)
way to connect hard disk drives to
An encryption method in which data is
computer systems. SATA is based on
encrypted in a way that is mathematically
serial signaling technology, unlike current
impossible to reverse. Different data can
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard
possibly produce the same hash value,
disk drives that use parallel signaling.
but there is no way to use the hash value
scalable node to determine the original data.
A physical platform that has at least one
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
SMP Expansion Module. Additional
A security protocol that provides
attributes are assigned to a physical
communication privacy. With SSL,
platform when it is a scalable node. These
client/server applications can
additional attributes record the number of
communicate in a way that is designed to
SMP Expansion Modules, SMP Expansion
prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and
Ports, and RXE Expansion ports on the
message forgery.
physical chassis.
secure shell (ssh)
scalable partition
A Unix-based command interface and
An IBM Director managed object that
protocol for securely getting access to a
defines the scalable nodes that can run a
remote computer.
single image of the operating system. A
scalable partition has a single, continuous

688 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


server farm data. When installed on a managed
A group of network servers that are system, this feature enables SNMP-based
housed in one location. managers to poll the managed system and
receive its alerts. If System Health
Service delivery subsystem
Monitoring is installed on the managed
A SAS domain.
system also, hardware alerts can be
Service Location Protocol (SLP) forwarded as SNMP traps.
An Internet protocol that identifies and
SNMP device
uses network hosts without having to
An embedded device that uses SNMP to
designate a specific network host name.
monitor network-attached devices,
service processor printers, or computers for conditions that
A generic term for Remote Supervisor require system-management attention.
Adapters, Advanced System Management
SOAP See Simple Object Access Protocol.
processors, Advanced System
Management PCI adapters, integrated SQL See Structured Query Language.
management modules, and integrated
SSL See Secure Sockets Layer.
system management processors (ISMPs).
These hardware-based management SSP Serial SCSI protocol. Used to
processors used in IBM Netfinity and communicate with SAS devices and SCSI
xSeries servers work with IBM Director to software.
provide hardware status and alert
static partition
notification.
A view-only scalable partition.
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
Storage Management Initiative Specification
A lightweight, XML-based protocol for
(SMI-S)
exchanging information in a
A design specification developed by the
decentralized, distributed environment.
Storage Networking Industry Association
SOAP can be used to query and return
(SNIA) that specifies a secure and reliable
information and invoke services across
interface with which storage management
the Internet.
systems (SMSs) can identify, classify,
SLP See Service Location Protocol. monitor, and control physical and logical
resources in a storage area network
SMBIOS
(SAN). The interface integrates the
See system management BIOS.
various devices to be managed in a
SMP SCSI management protocol. Used to storage area network (SAN) and the tools
manage SAS point-to-point topology. used to manage them.
SMP Expansion Module storage pool
An IBM xSeries hardware option. It is a Containers of virtual disks that reside on
single module that contains the Virtual I/O Server.
microprocessors, disk cache, random
storage subsystem
access memory, and three SMP Expansion
A storage control and its attached storage
Port connections. Two SMP Expansion
devices.
Modules can fit in a chassis.
storage volume
snap-in
A representation of a volume from the
A registered user exit program that is
standpoint of the storage system that
defined to be called from mail server
contains the volume.
framework user exit points. The mail
server framework user exit points are STP SCSI tunneling protocol. Used to identify
referred to as ports by the mail server and communicate with SATA devices.
framework. Systems will snap-in the
Structured Query Language (SQL)
programs that are needed to operate.
A standardized language for defining and
SNMP Access and Trap Forwarding manipulating data in a relational
An IBM Director Agent feature that database.
enables SNMP to access managed-system

Glossary 689
Subtractive routing attribute are star (centralized), bus (decentralized),
The attribute of an expander PHY that and ring (decentralized).
indicates that it can be used by the ECM
triple Data Encryption Standard (triple DES)
to route connection requests to an
A block cipher algorithm that can be used
attached expander device.
to encrypt data transmitted between
Subtractive routing method managed systems and the management
The method the ECM uses to route server. Triple DES is a security
connection requests to an expander enhancement of DES that employs three
device. successive DES block operations.
switch module triple DES
The BladeCenter component that provides See triple Data Encryption Standard.
network connectivity for the BladeCenter
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)
chassis and blade servers. It also provides
In Internet communications, a set of
interconnectivity between the
conventions that transfers files between
management module and blade servers.
hosts using minimal protocol.
system
trustore
Operating-system-based or
In security, a storage object, either a file or
hardware-based endpoint that has an IP
a hardware cryptographic card, where
address and host name and can be
public keys are stored in the form of
discovered and managed by IBM Systems
trusted certificates, for authentication
Director. For example, storage devices,
purposes in Web transactions. In some
network devices, physical servers, virtual
applications, these trusted certificates are
servers, and operating systems are
moved into the application keystore to
systems.
reside with the private keys.
system management BIOS (SMBIOS)
A specification that extends BIOS to U
support the retrieval of management data.
Universally Unique Identifier (UUID)
system variable The 128-bit numerical identifier that is
A user-defined keyword and value pair used to ensure that two components do
that can be used to test and track the not have the same identifier.
status of network resources. System
undoable disk
variables can be referred to wherever
A type of virtual disk that saves changes
event-data substitution is allowed.
to a temporary file instead of to the
virtual disk itself. Changes can be
T
committed when the virtual machine is
Target Another SCSI device that communicates powered off.
with the originating SCSI device.
UUID See Universal Unique Identifier.
target system
A managed system on which an IBM V
Systems Director task is performed.
viewport
terabyte (TB) 1. In the GDDM® function, a rectangular
For processor storage, real and virtual area within the picture space that
storage, and channel volume, 2 to the defines where the output of the
40th power or 1 099 511 627 776 bytes. current page appears on the work
For disk storage capacity and station.
communications volume, 1 000 000 000 2. In GL, the last transformation in the
000 bytes. graphics pipeline, which is used to
map from normalized device
Topology
coordinates to device coordinates. The
The geometric configuration of a
viewport maps the unit cube x/w =
computer network, or how the network is
physically laid out. Common topologies

690 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide


+/-1, y/w = +/-1, z/w = +/-1 to the other data recording medium that
screen space, as measured in pixels. supports some form of identifier and
3. That portion of a partition or usable parameter list, such as a volume label or
area defined for display of data to the input/output control.
operator. The viewport has a VPD See vital product data.
predefined size and position on the
screen and is related to a presentation W
space through a specified window.
Wake on LAN
4. In BMS, that part of a screen that is
A technology that enables a user to
allocated to a partition.
remotely turn on systems for off-hours
virtual farm maintenance. A result of the Intel-IBM
A collection of host systems and their Advanced Manageability Alliance and
associated virtual servers. Virtual farms part of the Wired for Management
can represent farms that are defined in Baseline Specification, users of this
VMware VirtualCenter. Virtual farms can technology can remotely turn on a server
also be a collection of hosts in other and control it across the network, thus
supported virtualization environments. saving time on automated software
installations, upgrades, disk backups, and
virtualization environment
virus scans.
Describes all of the components
associated with a managed system and its walk An SNMP operation that is used to
virtualized resources. The associated discover all object instances of
components can include a platform management information implemented in
manager, host systems, virtual farms, the SNMP agent that can be accessed by
virtual servers, and guest operating the SNMP manager.
systems. The following are examples of
Web Services Description Language (WSDL)
virtualization environments:
An XML-based specification for
1. Microsoft Virtual Server describing networked services as a set of
2. Power Systems that are under the endpoints operating on messages
control of a Hardware Management containing either document-oriented or
Console (HMC) procedure-oriented information.
3. Power Systems that are under the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
control of an Integrated Virtualization An application programming interface
Manager (IVM) (API) in the Windows operating system
4. VMware ESX Server that enables devices and systems in a
5. VMware VirtualCenter network to be configured and managed.
WMI uses the Common Information
6. Xen Virtualization
Model (CIM) to enable network
virtual server administrators to access and share
A system composed of partitioned, management information.
shared, or virtualized resources presented
WMI See Windows Management
from a host system. An operating system
Instrumentation.
and other software can be installed on a
virtual server. Terms also used for this WMI Query Language (WQL)
concept are Virtual Machine, Hosted A subset of the Structured Query
Computer, Child Partition, Logical Partition, Language (SQL) with minor semantic
Domain Guest, Guest Domain, or domU. changes to support Windows
Management Instrumentation (WMI).
vital product data (VPD)
Information that uniquely defines system, WQL See WMI Query Language.
hardware, software, and microcode
WSDL
elements of a processing system.
See Web Services Description Language.
volume
A discrete unit of storage on disk, tape, or

Glossary 691
X Zone configuration
A collection of information that describes
XML See Extensible Markup Language.
the zoning for a SAS domain.
Y Zone group
A part of a domain whose properties and
Z limits you specify on the Basic Zone
Permission Table. This table is on the
z/VM An IBM System z and zSeries® operating
Manage Fabric page.
system that acts as virtualization software.
z/VM can virtualize all system resources,
Symbols and Numerics
including processors, memory, storage
devices, and communication devices. 10b8b decoding
z/VM supports the concurrent operation Decoding a 10-bit character (a control or
of hundreds of operating system data character) into an 8-bit byte (a
instances. control or data byte).

692 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide




Printed in USA

GC30-4176-06

You might also like