Subject: E-mail Notification of System Problems

Audience: All

Date: March 24, 2005

AIX does such a good job of working around hardware problems that you may not notice a problem occurred which leaves your system exposed. For example, AIX automatically detours around a failed disk mirror and leaves an entry in the error log. You'd never notice this problem, unless you check the errorlog. It's not practical to check errorlogs daily, especially in large installations. A better solution would be to have the system notify you when problems occur. You can do this using Service Agent™.

Service Agent™ provides the "call home" for IBM Service, and can be configured to e-mail you when problems occur. Service Agent™ runs as a client-server application on either a server or the HMC (SNMP w/V4R3, 10/04). The gateway server collects alerts from client systems and "calls home" through either a dial-up connection or through the Internet. You can choose to be notified for all problem events or just those that are called in automatically to your service provider. If you have a mobile telephone that supports e-mail, you could use that account to receive notifications while traveling.

The Service Agent™ code is standard on the HMC, but must be installed on AIX servers. The server code and documentation can be downloaded from: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/aix/service_agent_code/AIX. The "call home to IBM" function requires the server be on warranty or an IBM maintenance plan. The email function does not.

The configuration works differently if you're using the HMC or a server for the gateway.

If Service Agent™ is Running on a Server:

1. Start the Service Agent™ Interface (smit svc_saui => Adv Graphics User Interface)
2. Choose the "server" that you want to monitor (left side of the screen in the Navigation box)
3. Click Add (lower left corner) => Child => Email Alert

If Service Agent™ is Running on the HMC

1. In the navigation area, open Service Applications
2. Select Service Agent™
3. Select Customer Notification.
4. In the Notification of Service Events window, click the Email tab.
5. Select Enable email notification for problem events.
6. In the SMTP server field, type the IP address or host name of the mail server, and click Add to add an e-mail address to the list.

Use Service Agent™ "email test" feature to verify it is working properly.

PS Thanks to Michel Marion for suggesting this tip.

Setting up notifications for service events

Electronic Service Agent™. enables you or designated servers to receive notification when service events occur. For example, you can specify e-mail addresses that can be used to notify you or others when problems occur on the server. In addition, you can configure SNMP trap support on the HMC to notify designated servers when problems occur. See the following information for details: E-mail notification Use Electronic Service Agent™ to specify e-mail addresses that can be used to notify you or others in your company if there are problems on your server. You can choose whether these e-mail addresses are notified of all problem events or just those that are called in automatically to your service provider. If you have a mobile telephone that supports e-mail, you could use that account to receive notifications while traveling. To specify the e-mail addresses you want to notify, follow these steps:

1.	In the navigation area, open Service Applications. 
2.	Select Service Agent™
3.	Select Customer Notification. 
4.	In the Notification of Service Events window, click the Email tab. 
5.	Select Enable email notification for problem events. 
6.	In the SMTP server field, type the IP address or host name of the mail server, and click Add to add an e-mail address to the list.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap support notification

Note: SNMP trap support notification requires that you use Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to allow communication between SNMP managers and SNMP agents using TCP/IP for a transport layer. For more information on SNMP, see the following Request for Comments (RFCs):
RFC1155 -- Structure and Identification of Management Information for TCP/IP-based Internets
RFC1157 -- A Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
RFC1213 -- Management Information Base for Network Management of TCP/IP based internets: MIB-II
RFC1592 -- Simple Network Management Protocol, Distributed Protocol Interface Version 2

Use Electronic Service Agent™ to specify IP addresses or host names of servers you want to receive notification (SNMP trap) when problems occur. When the server receives notification that a service event has occurred, you can use a program application to process or display the information contained in the notification. For information about the contents of the traps, see SNMP traps. To specify the IP addresses or host names of the servers you want to notify, follow these steps:

1.	In the navigation area, open Service Applications. 
2.	Select Service Agent™
3.	Select Customer Notification. 
4.	In the Notification of Service Events window, click the SNMP Traps tab. 
5.	Select Enable SNMP traps notification. 
6.	Click Add to add an IP address or host name of the server to the list and to select the notification event.